Konoha Fairytale
by angel-of-gryffindor
Summary: sixteen years ago two beautiful childen were born but then their perfect life was plunged into hell when their parents were murdered. Years later two 'Princes' are there to save them. But how will their fairytale end? SasuNaru, ItaOc. Warnings inside.
1. To Begin With

Hello my dear readers

I will confem that I am working very hard the final part of 'Baby Mine, Don't You Cry' and the next chapter of 'Sharp Magic' so please don't loose faith in me! please!

Anyway, I have been working on this story for a few months and I really wanted to share it with you when it was finished but like everything I just couldn't wait!

First warnings first:

contains boylove

blood/mentions of murder

slight swearing

mentions of child abuse

and finally, contains an Original Character

please don't judge too quickly! I beg you!

give it a try

pretty please!

anyway...enjoy :)


	2. Preface

Preface:

Every fairytale starts with 'once upon and time' and ends with 'happily ever after. There's always a dashing prince, a beautiful princess in need of rescue and a wicked villain with awful plans. There are castles and dragons, with amazing sword fights and rain when its sad.

Well, long after Cindrella found her shoe, after Snow White ate the apple, Hansel and Gretel escaped the witch and Rapunzal cut her hair off; is where our story starts in a village called Konoha.


	3. The Tale Of Two Births

The Tale of the Births:

Sixteen years ago, in Konoha's local hospital, a beautiful child was born; he had bright golden blond hair, even as a newborn, the bluest eyes anyone had ever seen and three natural whisker marks on each cheek.

His parents had loved him dearly; red haired Kushina had cried when she was passed her perfect little son all cuddled up in a light blue blanket.

Her husband, blond haired and blue eyes Minato had also shed a tear when his tiny boy had grasped his finger in such a tiny fist.

Minato was a very important man, he was mayor of all of Konoha, even though he was so young, many believed he was too young at 23 but Minato had proven he was best for the job. Whenever the council confronted him about his age, which happened a lot when he was first appointed, Minato's main argument was about his old classmate, Eclipse, who had been the mayor of her village when she was just 10 and she was more capable than any of them.

It was widely known about the friendship Kushina, Minato and Eclipse and about the promise they had all made. It was also known about the gift Minato had given both of the special women in his life; it was soon announced that Eclipse had given Minato a second son, on the same day but in the afternoon. He was a pale little thing, with a tuft of jet black hair, one bright green eye, after his mother, and one sparkling blue eye, from his father.

That day Minato was the happiest man who had ever lived; he had two beautiful sons, a wonderful wife, a perfect friend and a creakless life.

The next day however was not as happy. In the early morning Minato had received word that Eclispe had died following the birth and there was nobody at her village who was willing to care for the child; their villages had been at war when the previous mayor of Konoha had been in charge and treated Eclispe badly, but even though they were friends now, people could not forget whose child she had given birth to.

Kushina sent for the child before Minato could even get to his office; the child arrived with a wet-nurse who claimed to have been looking after the baby since he had been born but she showed no emotion as Kushina took him into her arms.

The red head smiled lovingly as she stared down at her best friend's child and she shed a small tear at the thought that he would never meet her.

Minato stood with their own boy in his arms, just watching his wife cuddle his other baby, until he could take no more and he addressed her, "Kushina." She didn't turn, "let us get home, they will get tiresome if we stay out too long."

Without a word the Mayor and his wife returned to their home and placed the sleeping brothers in the same cot.

The morning sun arouse but the Mayor was not in his office, instead he was in the nursery with a thick book of baby names; Kushina looked over his shoulder every so often to point out names but none seemed to fit either of the babes.

A small gurgle emitted from the cot, Minato glanced over to see the two boys looking at each other, it made him smile.

"have you found no names for them dear?" Kushina asked gently as she folded a blanked.

Minato heaved a sigh much too old for him, "they are too old or serious or boring and they are not things I wish upon my children." He sounded so serious that Kushina giggled slightly.

"what about that name your old teacher gave us? Oh! What was it?" Kushina thought hard but couldn't remember as her mind was still skitty from birth.

"Naruto? You want to name one of them after a fish cake?" Minato questioned his wife.

Kushina giggled, "I like it, plus it is what I craved during pregnancy." She reminded him.

With a wide smiled Minato bent over the cot, "you hear that sunshine, your name is now Namikazi Naruto!" he told his son who gave him a look of his bright blue eyes.

"and what about our little shadow?" Kushina inquired.

The other babe turned his head towards Kushina so she leant down and pulled him to her breast; he didn't grasp her finger or look at her for the time she held him, "he's a strange little thing." She giggled.

"Just like his mother." Minato said as he remembered just how little he sometimes knew about his best friend.

The red head gently touch the baby's soft mop of hair; it was so dark, so inky, that suddenly Kushina thought of the perfect name, "Midonaito." She whispered and the baby looked up at her with his odd eyes.

Minato raised an eyebrow, "Midonaito? Why my dear? He is not the opposite of his mother." He inquired.

"no, but he is the opposite to our sunshine." She smiled.

And so that day Namikazi Naruto and Midonaito were welcomed to Konoha.


	4. Blood Splattered Fairytale

Blood Splattered Fairytale:

Over the years Naruto and Midonaito grew healthy and happy and, despite coming from different mothers, they grew like twins. Midonaito always knew if Naruto was in trouble and Naruto seemed to sense when Midonaito was sad; they worked perfectly, making their parents proud.

But the happy years did not last, when the 'twins' were five a horrendous thing happened that would change their lives forever; Minato and Kushina were murdered.

It had been a usual day in Minato's office, Kushina had come down with their sons at lunch time, on Minato's desk was a newspaper saying a dangerous man was on the loose but Konoha's mayor had not paid heed to his newspaper that day.

Five year old Naruto gurgled happily as his father bounced him on his knee, Kushina tidied up papers that Minato had decided to ignore, while Midonaito wandered around the office, just looking. The shadow child was grasping a fairytale book in his small hands when he heard something outside; Midonaito stood and stared at the door, no one else seemed to have heard it and he didn't voice his concerns if it were to be proven wrong.

There was a thud that caught Kushina's attention, she turned to the door and saw Midonaito standing there, she frowned, "what are you doing little shadow?" she asked gently as she went to his side.

Midonaito was unblinking and his hands were beginning to shake as he stared at the door more; suddenly the door was flung open by a bright red haired man with manic red eyes and a sharp toothed grin, he was wielding a black gun in one hand.

Before Kushina could even stand up properly a shot rang though the air, blood painted itself across the floor, walls and on the little shadow himself and Kushina crashed to the floor with a single bullet to the head.

Minato tried to be quicker but Naruto was grabbing onto him in fear; the blond mayor got a single shot on the man but he was more unlucky than his wife, a shot to the chest and finally in the head to kill him.

For several moments the room was still, hot tears were running down Naruto's cheeks as he tried to wake his father, Midonaito stood staring at Kushina, the blood stained fairytale book still clutched in his hands and the murderer looking from one twin to the other, confused that they were there.

Finally pointing his gun at Midonaito he began to shake as the shadow child just stared back at him, "shoot." Midonaito's voice was young and hoarse, "shoot if your heart tells you to. You have already stolen our parents, why not carry on?"

"Mid'!" screamed Naruto, his small hands covered in Minato's blood.

"You're a phsyco child!" the murderer screamed and tried to re-aim his gun.

"what is your name? I wish to know it for my revenge." Midonaito asked gently.

The man began to laugh, a hollow thing that didn't fill the room like Minato's had, "my name is Kyuubi!" he hollored.

Then as quickly as Kyuubi had arrived so did the police, the gun was dropped to the floor before it could be fired, he was forced to the floor and dragged out.

A kind looking police officer with white hair picked the frozen Midonaito into his arms, while another struggled with Naruto.

"No! I want my daddy! Daddy!" the sunshine bellowed at the top of his lungs that it hurt others ears.

Midonaito wiggled back to the floor and walked over to the screaming Naruto; taking his blooded hand in his pale one Midonaito didn't smile, "come Naru-niisan." He said in a soft voice, "there is nothing left for us here."

More tears fell from Naruto's baby blue eyes and as Midonaito took his from the blood stained room he too began to cry for his sudden loss but his were silent, a part of him had to be strong for Naruto or neither would live through the night.


	5. The New 'Family'

The New 'Family':

There were no more family members to care for the twins after their parents murder; Minato's parents had died in a car crash when he was two and Kushina's parents disappear many years ago. There was Naruto's godfather, Jiarya, but he was far away on a business trip and would have no time to look after two young children.

But, according to paperwork, there was one who had been friends with Eclipse in her youth and had worked for Minato when he had become mayor.

Bud Mayson was a average guy; average to look at, average job, average home and average family with a average wife and two boys.

"Of course I'll take very good care of them." Bud said the day he came to collect Naruto and Midonaito, "I was such good friends with their parents and I'm sure my boy's will be happy to have two new brothers."

He smiled sickly sweet at the cowering five year olds in the corner, there was something about Bud that they both didn't like but they needed a guardian so they both kept quiet, even as they were taken to their new home.

Bud's brown haired wife greeted them at the door with a set of twins by her side; both brown haired and dull faced.

They all waved goodbye to the social workers with a cheery smile but that is where the cheeriness ended; Bud grabbed Midonaito and Naruto's bags, tossing them into the hallways and the twins grabbed the boys, pretty much tossing them next to their bags.

Naruto clutched Midonaito's arm in fear and Midonaito took at deep breath as Bud and his family stared menacingly down at them, "Namikazi Naruto and The Little Shadow." Bud hissed.

"Don't call me that." Midonaito snapped, "only mummy and daddy can call me that."

"could. They're dead remember." Bud's wife, Tulip, reminded him bitterly.

"Your horrid!" Naruto shouted bravely.

"Be quiet!" Bud shouted and the house fell silent again, "listen you little twerps, I took you in because I had to, but while you are here you will earn your keep."

"How?" Naruto and Midonaito whispered together.

"By working for us dummy." One twin giggled evilly.

"Now, now Jona." Bud soothed before turning to Naruto and Midonaito again, "yes, you will do all the housework, food shopping and anything else we can think of." He told them.

"but that's child abuse!" Midonaito shouted.

"you can't do that!" Naruto added, "we'll tell our social worker."

Bud laughed a nasty, hollow laugh, "don't kid yourselves, if you tell then you'll be taken away and will have to live in an orphanage, then you really will have nothing."

"We have nothing now!" Midonaito hollered, "what would an orphanage make any difference?"

There was a sharp, short sound that stung the air suddenly; Midonaito's cheek stung and a bright red mark began to show itself on his cheek.

"Quiet. You understand?" Bud spat in Midonaito's pale face.

For a long moment there was silence; the baby shadow turned his odd eyes to Bud's dark brown ones, "perfectly." He replied passionately.

Bud and Tulip smiled wickedly, they roughly handed the boys back their belongings before leading them to a door in the hallway; swinging it open it revelled a stairway leading to a cellar.

"Your room boys." Bud said as he pushed the boys onto the first step, "oh, and by the way, you will now go by the last name Uzamaki." and with that he slammed the door.

The stairwell was plunged into darkness, out of fear Naruto let go of his suitcase and they both heard it tumble violently down to the bottom.

Midonaito groped around the wall beside him looking for a light switch; he ended up standing on his tiptoes to reach the switch and even when he did it didn't light much of the stairwell.

Grabbing both his bag and Naruto's hand they went down the stairs and into a dank room with two mattresses raised on wood, there was an old TV between them, a battered desk and a single small window.

"We have to live here?" Naruto gasped.

Midonaito sighed, "don't worry Naru-niisan, you have me." He reminded his elder brother in a chirpy voice in vein hope that it would cheer him up.

"Oh but Mid! Its horrid, how are we going to survive like this?" Naruto began to cry so Midonaito held him tightly but said nothing more.


	6. Letter and Locket

Letter and Locket:

It had been late evening when Bud had taken them from the social worker and now it was night-time according to the bright moonlight plunging through the little window.

Midonaito tucked Naruto under a thin duvet that Bud had given him with Naruto's special fox plushie their father had given him in the first month he had been born.

Looking at his sleeping brother Midonaito knew that it was going to be a long lifetime till they finally get out of there at eighteen; his mind wondered that he would now be acting like the older brother, caring for Naruto instead of the other way around. He unlocked his own bag when he was finally happy that Naruto was fully asleep; inside was a few sets of clothes, a toothbrush, his black wolf plushie, the blood stained fairytale book and a box Kushina had given him on his last birthday.

He pulled out his plushie and the box, he had never opened it and never shown Naruto because Kushina had told him that it would be their little secret.

The young shadow perched on the edge of his bed, his wolf tucked under one arm he slowly opened the box; inside was lined with a dark red velvet, a letter, a photo album and a thick jewellery box was all that sat in the beautiful box.

Being a naturally smart child Midonaito picked up the letter first; it was written in Kushina's simple handwriting that he could read but some of the words he didn't understand:

_Dear Midonaito,_

_I don't know how old you will be by the time you read this, goodness, if you are anything like your father it shouldn't have been too long after I gave it to you._

_In this letter is very important; as you may have noticed you and Naruto don't look the same and your father and I have always supported the questioning that you are twins but it's not true._

_Granted you were born on the same day but not both to me. I'm not your mother my little shadow, your mother was mine and your father's best friend in school, her name was Eclipse._

_Unfortunately she died shortly she gave birth to you, some sort of complication and you came to us, much to our joy._

_Eclipse was a mayor of another town, since she was very young I might add, you have wonderful blood; two mayors, your father being loyal and handsome and your mother strong and beautiful that I have no doubt that you have grown up wonderful. _

_I don't think your father wanted you to know about this till you are much older but I can't keep this to myself any longer._

_Inside this box is a photo album of my childhood with Eclipse and a locket that she gave me just before she left us to go back to her own village, I used to wear it everyday but I should actually belong to you now._

_I really hope you are not upset but just remember that I still love you like a mother should and I hope you still see me as one after you read this._

_All my love and praise_

_Kushina _

_(Mother)_

Midonaito re-read the words he didn't understand but still couldn't quite figure them out no matter how many times he read them. His mind was reeling by the information, it hadn't told him about how his father had impregnated Eclipse but he half guessed that Kushina thought she would still be alive to answer the questions he would have later. He didn't hate Kushina or his father for keeping the information from him, they only wanted him to be happy.

Refolding the letter Midonaito turned to the jewellery box; it was large in his small hands and stiff to open but with a small snap it was open and inside sat a silver locket with a gold chain, in the middle of the locket was a deep black jewel and was surrounded by alternate orange and red gems.

The little shadow could see his reflection in the larger gem, he smiled briefly before opening the locket; a small picture of three teenagers grinned back at him. In the moonlight Midonaito could see the blond boy in the group was their father, he still looked exactly the same, the pretty red head was Naruto's mother; a sudden prang of sadness shot through Midonaito as he thought as Kushina as only Naruto's mother, with determination Midonaito decided that Kushina was his mum and Eclipse would be his mother because it was more formal and he didn't really know her.

The final figure in the picture was a black haired girl with bright green eyes; it was obviously Eclipse.

For a long time Midonaito stared at the picture, content with just staring at his three parents, it wasn't until a large cloud covered the moon did he decide to sleep too.

Carefully he replaced everything how it had been in the box, except the locket which he put on, holding it tight to his chest, he placed the box back in his case and slid it under the bed, out of sight. The duvet was thin but the pillow was thinner so Midonaito placed the fairytale book he didn't seem to want to let go of under it and for some reason it made him relax more.

His plushie and locket clutched in hand Midonaito fell to sleep, dreading the next morning.


	7. 10 Years Later

10 Years Later:

The sun seemed to rise early just to spite the Namikazi twins; Naruto woke first, groaning softly as he rolled out of bed and onto the cold stone floor.

It had been ten years since the violent murder of his parents, then being imprisoned with Bud and his family and it had been ten years of pure hell.

The original threat made by Bud to Naruto's brother's face had been all too true; the next morning after they had been left it hadn't been later than seven o' clock then they had been woken up by Tulip, her screaming had been high pitched but the orders coming out of them had been worse.

Naruto shuddered at the memory of the first day and quickly pushed it out of his mind.

Glancing at his watch Naruto began to pull on his clothes; they weren't fresh but they didn't stink so he pulled the Calvin Kline jeans over starry and dark blue boxers and slipped on a baby blue short sleeved shirt. All of Naruto and Midonaito's clothes were hand-me-downs from Bud's twins Jona and Theo but they were bought only the best so the hand-me-downs were only the best but they were two sizes too big.

Midonaito suddenly moved and began to wake; Naruto watched silently as his baby brother woke up and he felt a sad prang in his heart as he remembered how quickly Midonaito had grown up since the murder.

"hope you've got socks on." Midonaito mumbled.

Naruto snorted softly through his nose at the comment, "we've got to get up." He told his dark haired brother.

Frowning Midonaito slipped out from under the same duvet he had gone to sleep under ten years ago, with the same stained book wedged under his pillow.

Midonaito was already half dressed due to going to bed at a strange hour because he had homework and had been too tired to get undressed when he finally stumbled into bed.

Starightening his twisted dark purple t-shirt Midonatio pulled on some long shorts but still felt half asleep; Midonatio had mixed feelings about school, he loved to learn but he spent most of his times in fights.

Naruto and Midonatio grabbed their school bags and raced upstairs; of course it was much too early to go to school but the twins had some work to do.

Midonatio did the laundry, washing-up and kitchen.

Naruto had the dusting, hoovering and living room.

But it did all depend on what Bud and Tulip felt like meant if they had more work than normal, over the years Naruto and Midonatio had become quicker at doing their chores and in no time they were finished and raced to school.

It was a fine day, not very many clouds, not sunny either so it was nicer for the twins to walk but unfortunately it had rained hard two days previous and some large puddles still lay at the side of the road.

A sleek red sports car with a black strip zoomed past, though the biggest puddle, sending a high wave of dirty water over the twins and then suddenly stopped.

Midonatio glared deathly at the car, "probably want another go." he snarled.

Naruto shook his head and peeled a leaf off his shoulder; he saw a tall black haired elder teenager stepped out and he approached them.

"i'm sorry." he said, his voice deep.

The boy was more than a head taller than both of the twins, his hair long and jet black, pulled back into a loose ponytail and his dark brown eyes filled with concern. He was richly dressed.

Midonatio still glared at him, even though his heart sped up at the sight of the very attractive older boy, "i bet you did that on purpose." Midonatio snapped, "think you're too good for us?" he was so used to people looking down their noses at him and his brother he never suspected the best in anyone but Naruto.

The boy looked shocked, "no, of course not." he laughed nervously, "my brother was arguing with me..."

"Itachi! I'm going to be late for school." another black haired boy called from the car.

Naruto's heart dropped and then sped up, he recognised the other boy immediately; Sasuke Uchiha, jet black hair spiked at the back, eternal eyes and ultimately perfect.

Midonatio wrinkled his nose at the sight of Sasuke; he knew that Naruto fancied the youngest Uchiha but Sasuke was a nasty popular boy who never had time for anyone and who made their lives a living hell.

"Wait Sasuke!" Itachi called and then turned back to the twins with a smile, "want a lift?"

"you've got to be kidding? Do you think we are stupid?" Midonatio refused to be fooled.

Itachi suddenly bent down to their level and looked the shadow child deep in the eye, "drop your wall for a second and trust someone." he said softly and Midonatio found himself blushing furiously.

"we'll be late otherwise." Naruto whispered, still feeling uncomfortable in his wet clothes.

Sighing Midonatio nodded and Itachi led them to his car; Sasuke looked far from impressed.

"What do you think you are doing?" Sasuke snarled at Midonatio.

Midonatio gave a sarcastic smile, "nothing I truly want to, trust me Uchiha; spending my morning with you is far from ideal." he replied nastily.

"be nice little brother." Itachi said in a teasing way.

Sasuke suddenly looked furious, "Itachi! Shut up." he snapped with less venom.

Itachi smiled, his eyes never leaving Midonatio, "let's go."

it was most definalty the weirdest ride to school Naruto and Midonatio had had, Sasuke kept taking snipes at Midonatio, who gave just a bad back and Naruto was just trying not to get in an argument.

"Have a good day you lot." Itachi called as they all got out.

Sasuke waved his brother away quickly, his usual group of shallow, nasty friends waiting for him by the entrance, but before he left he had one last snipe at Midonatio, "did you think that if you were seen with me then your status would go up."

Midonatio snorted, "don't kid yourself Uchiha, why would we want to be associated with the likes of you." Naruto hated it when Midonatio was horrible but he knew it was only to protect them both.

"likes of me?" Sasuke retorted, "at least I'm going somewhere with my life."

"yeah, being exactly like daddy."

"stop fighting. No more trouble Mid." Naruto begged but it fell on deaf ears.

"at least I have a father. A family. Where's yours?" Sasuke had an ugly smile on his handsome face, "oh, that's right, they're dead!"

Of course since Bud had forced the twins to go by the name Uzamaki, their mother's maiden name, nobody knew who their parents really were; not that anyone asked in any case.

if someone had blinked they would have missed Midonatio lunging at Sasuke; Midonatio had a powerful hit for such a small person and he inflicted the young Uchiha with a black eye and a busted lip before Naruto could drag him off.

"you're insane!" Sasuke yelled and retreated to the safety of his 'friends'.

"yeah, you run pretty boy." Midonatio called after him, with Naruto still holding tightly to his arms.

It took a long time in the boys bathroom for Midonatio to calm down, "who the hell does he think he is?" he fumed, "i bet they planned it all, didn't know it was orphan abuse day."

"calm down Mid. It's not good for you." Naruto tried to calm his twin down but wasn't succesed.

Midonatio took some deep breaths, "Naruto, go to lesson. I'll be there as soon as I can."

Naruto looked at his distressed twin, wishing there was something he could do to make him feel better but he knew there was nothing and Naruto knew it; Midonatio got a kick out of protecting Naruto, getting into fights and having people to help.

The Namikazi twins had always had each other and that was the way Midonatio wanted it to stay.


	8. Enter Prince Charmings

Enter Prince Charmings:

Sasuke Uchiha was beyond furious; first his mother hadn't been able to drive him to school because she had gone out with some of her friends so Itachi, his teasing older brother, had driven him and it had been horrible in a number of reasons.

"so, little brother, you going to come out of the closet yet?" Itachi asked not two minutes into the drive.

Sasuke chocked noisily on his own spit, he glared at his brother; Itachi only knew about his preferance because he had gone rummaging through Sasuke's draws and had found his stash of Playgirls.

"shut it." Sasuke snapped.

Itachi grinned widely, "come on Sasu." he said cheekily, "what could be so bad? You'll lose those so-called 'friends' who only like you for your money and looks."

Itachi himself had been popular at school and had been closeted gay, fearing rejection from friends and their father but in his last year it hit him that he didn't care and came out. Their father was far from happy but took to ignoring it and getting on with life like nothing had happened.

"if I don't see it then I don't care." was what their father had said sharply.

Sasuke sighed, "i'm not like you, I can't be like the Uzamakis'." he huffed.

"The Uzamakis'? You mean those twins?" Itachi asked, "what would be so bad about that?"

"they're freaks! I wouldn't want to be beaten up every single day -"

"i'm pretty sure you're the one doing the beating." Itachi suddenly cut across.

Sasuke turned furiously to his older brother, his dark eyes blazing angrily, "how dare you accuse me of that!" he fumed, turning fully in the leather car seat.

Itachi took turned his identical eyes on his baby brother, "oh come off it." Itachi snapped, "i've heard you on the phone to Sakura boasting -"

Itachi was suddenly cut off by a loud splashing sound from outside the car and someone yelling; out of panic Itachi slammed his foot on the break, the car skidded to a halt and Sasuke was thrown forwards slightly.

Taking a deep breath Itachi checked the wing mirror and saw two figures on the side of the road, by a rippling puddle, dripping wet.

"crap." Itachi breathed and jumped out of the car.

He quickly approched them, as Sasuke looked on from the car with dread setting in his stomach; he reconigsed the boys instantly.

Itachi was confronted with the most angry eyes he had ever seen, but also the most beautiful; one was bright blue and the other was deep green. The owner of the eyes, apart from being soaking wet, was handsome with midnight black hair and pale skin but he was wearing an ugly look on his face.

The other boy was blond and blue eyed, with soft tanned skin and a perfectly aborable face; Itachi suddenly remembered Sasuke mumbling once about a blond boy and doing something rude to the tanned boy.

"i'm sorry" Itachi said quickly, feeling his heart flutter slightly.

The black haired boy snarled, "i bet you did that on purpose." his voice was worn for one so young, "think you're too good for us?"

Itachi blinked, shocked that someone could think so coldly about someone they had just met, he suddenly became nervous, "of course not. My brother was arguing with me..."

Sasuke couldn't take any more, his brother was making a fool of himself, "Itachi! I'm going to be late for school!" not that he care whether he was late or not.

His heart leapt into his throat as Uzamaki Naruto made eye contact with him; Naruto was a mystery and a wonder, always hiding behind his brother and trying to keep the calm but there was something so much deeper to him and it was drawing Sasuke dangerously close to him.

Itachi yelled through his thoughts and then said something to the twins.

The elder Uchiha was struggling and he had no idea why, just the look of the black haired boy was making his mind mush so he did the only thing he could think of, "want a lift?" he asked.

"you've got to be kidding!" the boy snapped and his blond brother shrank away slightly, "do you think we are stupid?"

and then Itachi saw it; the barrier the boy had put up to protect them both. Of course Itachi knew of their background, of their parents and of their murder as he had been nine when it had happened and he had heard of everything from his mother; it was only natural.

"drop your wall for a second and trust someone." Itachi whispered as he looked the boy deep in his odd eyes and was rewarded by a light blush.

With an encouraging word from the blond twin the still soaking wet twins followed Itachi to his car and Sasuke felt slightly sick; he had to keep his distance from both of them, far from Midonatio because they had had more than their fair share of fights and from Naruto because of the feelings the ball of sunshine stirred up inside the youngest Uchiha.

Sasuke took some verbal swipes at Midonatio, his heart just wouldn't let him attack Naruto, but the dark haired boy gave back just as bad. For a spilt moment Sasuke did wonder why he wasn't actually friends with the younger Uzamaki, they were alike in many ways, plus it would have meant he could get closer to Naruto, but he quickly cast those thoughts from his minds as he spotted his usual group of friends though his brothers tinted window.

Suddenly Sasuke's insides began to panic as the twins climbed out of the car with him; with full panic in gear, mainly from being rejected and living a life he didn't think he could handle, so he just said whatever came to the front of his brain first; "did you think that if you were seen with me then your status would go up."

Midonatio snorted, "don't kid yourself Uchiha, why would we want to be associated with the likes of you." he could be very arrogant when he needed to be.

"likes of me?" Sasuke retorted, "at least I'm going somewhere with my life."

"yeah, being exactly like daddy." Midonatio snapped back; it angered Sasuke when anyone insulted his family in anyway.

Naruto tried to pulled his brother away from Sasuke, saying his usual soft words and for a moment it seemed like it was going to work but Sasuke was still wound up and was still letting his mouth do all his thinking.

"at least I have a father. A family. Where's yours? oh, that's right, they're dead!" the youngest Uchiha knew he had said the most terrible thing he could; he knew the Uzamakis' parents died ten years previous but he didn't know how. Either way Sasuke felt physically sick when he noticed the look in Midonatio's odd eyes.

Sasuke expected what would come next but it was so much worse than ever before; he felt the punches, the kicks and at one point a headbutt. Blood trickled gently out of Sasuke's busted lip and his eye swelled greatly in a short space of time.

And, as quickly as it had began, the fight stopped; Naruto rushed his younger brother into the school halls and out of sight while the girls in his group, Sakura and Ino, fussed greatly over him.

"What a messed up freak." Kiba snarled, his large white teeth shining in the sun as his lip curled back angrily; he always reminded Sasuke of a dog.

Sasuke battered Sakura away as she dabbed his lip, "tell me about it." he mumbled and felt his fat lip spilt again.

"why were they in the same car as you Sasuke-hun?" Ino asked; her blond hair pulled back so tightly her eyebrows were in a constant state of shock.

The heavy feeling was back in his stomach; the Uchiha didn't care what the teachers had to say about him fighting but if Itachi ever found out what he had said to the shadow boy.

The bell went for first period, freeing Sasuke from more questioning until break or lunch, so with a tissue pressed tightly to his lip and fringe over his blackened eye he trudged to class.

Sasuke Uchiha felt a million times worse than he had before he had gotten into the car that morning.


	9. The Moon Falls In Love

The Moon Falls In Love:

as soon as Midonatio walked through the classroom door, twenty minuets late, eyes stinging and Naruto hanging behind him like a ghost, he was given a lunch detention.

Naruto was given a after school detention, which messed up their usual routine of cleaning Bud's home.

For a spilt moment Midonatio looked up through his bangs to glare at the young Uchiha; he was surrounded by his little group of 'friends' and a smug look on his damaged face.

The twins took their usual seats at the back of the class, where nobody stared at them and the teacher didn't call upon them. Midonatio had carved his name several times into the shiny woodwork, his real name and didn't pay attention to what was going on; while Naruto tried to catch what their teacher, Iruka, was telling them.

Suddenly a little folded up paper landed on Midonatio's closed workbook; for several moments the shadow teen just stared at it, he already knew who it was from, the pink ink was visible through the thin paper, another hate note from Sakura, the Uchiha's right hand girl.

Midonatio snatched it up and threw it back across the classroom, hitting blond haired Ino in her high ponytail.

The bell rang for next lessen to start but they had eighty percent of their lessens in the same room, excluding P.E and drama, so they all remained seated while Iruka packed his stuff up and left.

While they waited for their next teacher everyone began talking loudly, mainly about the fight that had accrued between Sasuke and Midonatio.

"And he just leapt at poor Sasuke like an animal." Sakura said in a shrill voice, over exaggerating everything, "he wasn't even provoked." she shot a sharp look at Midonatio.

Everybody listening gasped and talked in less then hushed voices.

"they're lying." Naruto suddenly whispered.

The younger Namikazi child glanced up with an empty grin, "i know, let them believe whatever they want to."

the door suddenly banged open and Kakashi bustled in; Kakashi was always late for classes, wild white hair and a lazy expression. Rumour was that he used to be in the police force but something horrific happened and he quit to become a teacher, but it was only a rumour.

"right you little gits!" Kakashi shouted above everyone, "who here has lunchtime detention?" he asked in his usual drawl.

Only a couple of hands were raised, along with Midonatio was Sai, a slight black haired boy who painted on the walls and was rude, and Hinata, who only had a detention because she stuttered all the way through a presentation.

For a moment Midonatio thought he saw Kakashi look at him with pity but it was immediately ignored.

"and who has after school?" the white haired teacher asked with a sigh.

Surprisingly Sasuke raised his hand as well as Naruto but they were the only two. Midonatio tensed at the thought of leaving his brother alone with the youngest Uchiha.

Kakashi taught them Biology, a lot of his facts came from a series of orange books that had little black and white stickers on the front, plus no-one else was allowed to read from them.

Lunch came around too quickly; Naruto packed up his stuff and went to leave, "i'll wait outside the classroom." he whispered.

Bud and Tulip never gave them any money for lunch, so they were used to being hungry.

Midonatio watched sadly as his elder brother left behind all the rest; the classroom fell into a sort of silence; for a moment Midonatio thought that Hinata was crying but it just turned out that she was nervous. Sai was scribbling something in his notepad, tongue between his teeth.

With a deep sigh Kakashi handed out worksheets but they were promptly ignored; Midonatio stared out at of the window, just watching all the groups of friends, but he didn't feel sad, he had Naruto.

The shadow teen suddenly saw Kakashi take Naruto's seat, "how you doing?" Kakashi asked in a hushed tone.

Midonatio scowled at the worksheet and didn't look up or speak.

"how are things at home?" Kakashi tried again, leaning forwards slightly.

Clenching the fabric tightly on his shorts the black haired boy exhaled angrily through his nose, but still didn't answer his teacher.

The white haired teacher picked up the worksheet and pretended to point at something on the paper, "heard you got into a fight this morning."

"The Uchiha started it." Midonatio ground out through clenched teeth.

A small smile appeared on Kakashi's chapped lips, "how?"

for a moment Midonatio looked over at his lazy, white haired teacher and thought he recognised him from somewhere else but quickly pushed it out of his mind; he didn't want to talk about what went on at home or even at the school gates. It was no-ones concern but his own.

After several more moments of silence Kakashi got up and left Midonatio to himself, obviously giving up on the one-sided convocation.

Midonatio's stomach gave an angry growl at not being fed for nearly a day; he gripped the fabric of his shirt and closed his eyes, willing for the day just to be over.

The shrill sound of the bell made Midonatio jump but his heart felt a bit lighter when he saw Naruto come through the door without any new wounds.

Naruto picked up the still blank worksheet that Kakashi had placed out, "you're meant to fill these out." Naruto teased with a small smile.

Shrugging Midonatio met his twins eyes and smiled too.

All too soon the whole class was back in the classroom, smelling of food and sweat, speaking in loud voices and, thankfully, ignoring the twins.

Kabato, a white haired, glasses wearing teacher arrived in the room and the whole class fell silent. Kabato was young but not nice, he took example on disapline from a vile ex-teacher called Orochimaru; he had been fired a few years previous for biting a child so hard on the neck that it left a scar.

"shut it and listen." Kabato snapped; he taught them History and was a stickler for facts, "today we are going to learn about..."

at that point most of the class zoned out, a few, like Naruto, kept notes but Kabato went into too much detail for most to bear.

Four hours of Kabato rambling on about something that happened in Medieval times, school finally ended and everyone tumbled out.

Sakura and Kiba hung back with Sasuke for a moment, shooting nasty looks at Naruto and Midonatio, but finally they swanned out, just as Kakashi came back in to do the after school detention.

"out please young mister Midonatio." Kakashi said and flung himself into the chair.

Sweeping his still closed and unwritten in books into his bag and left the classroom, a small feeling of dread setting in his stomach as he saw the Uchiha turn to look at Naruto.

Midonatio took a deep breath; the air was cool and felt nice on the shadow child's hot skin. Throwing his bag onto a nearby bench he lay down with his head on it and looked up at the slightly clouded sky.

Closing his eyes Midonatio saw his parents smiling back at him; his father tall, blond and smiling, always in a suit and his mum, red haired and beautiful. He clutched the gold pendent that lay heavily on his chest; he knew that if he hadn't had the picture in the pendent then he wouldn't have such a clear vision of his parents.

He and Naruto had been so young when they had been killed by the manic man who had since died in prison.

Sighing Midonatio opened his eyes again only to see a pair of dark brown eyes staring down at him; for a moment the shadow teen just stared up at those eyes.

"hello again." the owner of the eyes said.

As Midonatio's eyesight adjusted he saw the elder Uchiha brother leaning over him with a kind smile, he felt a blush darken his face as he sat up, finally looking away from Itachi's face.

"hi." Midonatio whispered.

Itachi sat next to him, closer than anyone, bar Naruto, had ever sat to him, "what are you doing out here?" Itachi asked kindly.

It felt different than talking to Kakashi, the shadow teen never wanted to talk to his teacher, even though he was nice. But Itachi stirred something strange inside him.

"i'm waiting for my brother." Midonatio finally said.

He peeked through his bangs at Itachi and couldn't stop the smile that crept its way onto his face, "he's so handsome." Midonatio's mind suddenly said.

"Where is he?" the older Uchiha brother asked.

Sweeping his bangs out of his face Midonatio got a better look at Itachi's caring face, "he has detention with your brother." the shadow teen told him and was surprised to see Itachi jump slightly.

"what?" Itachi breathed.

Midonatio scowled, "didn't you know your brother has detention?" he asked calmly.

"no." Itachi was pouted slightly, "stupid little brother. What did he do?" he turned his handsome eyes back to Midonatio.

The blush that had been staining Midonatio's face quickly drained when he thought about the vile, nasty words that had spilled out of the youngest Uchiha's mouth that morning and what the shadow teen had done because of those words.

"what's wrong?" Itachi suddenly looked and sounded very concerned, "what happened?"

Midonatio moved back slightly, "nothing." he said quickly but couldn't look away.

"Rubbish." Itachi stated and placed a hand on Midonatio's arm, "what happened?"

the hand on Midonatio's arm felt nice; no one touched him kindly anymore. Bud grabbed him and other students pushed him out of the way so he was amazed by the gentleness of Itachi's touch.

Sighing Midonatio finally answered, "we got into a fight." at that Itachi's frown deepened, "he said some things and I didn't control myself. Naruto just got caught up in it all."

Itachi slid closer to the shadow teen again and he found himself blushing again, "he shouldn't say mean things to someone like you." Itachi said softly but Midonatio's heart clenched slightly.

Standing suddenly he felt tears stinging his eyes for some strange reason as he glared at the elder Uchiha brother, "someone like me?" Midonatio snapped.

Itachi looked slightly shocked, "i didn't mean it like that." he said softly but Midonatio was riled up again; everything about the Uchiha's did that to him.

"whatever. You're just like everyone else!" Midonatio went to storm off and wait for Naruto around the corner but Itachi caught his wrist.

His hold may have been gentle but it was also very strong, "will you calm down Namikazi." the elder Uchiha brother hissed.

Midonatio froze; nobody had said his real name in so long, "how do you know that name?" his voice was so small, so broken.

The whole of Itachi's face soften, "it doesn't take a genius to put two and two together." he said softly.

"tell that to everyone here." Midonatio whispered, his heart dropping.

"everyone in your year were five too, nobody cared about the news when they were five." Itachi reminded the distressed shadow teen, "i was nine and close to my mother, she told me everything."

a strange strangulated noise escaped Midonatio's mouth before he could stop it; he couldn't hold anything back anymore, nobody had ever mentioned that day before.

Itachi led the upset teen back to the bench and they sat close together; Midonatio could smell Itachi's expensive aftershave and it calmed him slightly.

"what do you know?" Midonatio finally asked after he calmed down.

The elder Uchiha brother began stroking Midonatio's hair ever so gently, "i know some mad man broke into the Mayor's office, killed his wife first and then killed him." as Itachi talked Midonatio felt a single, silent tear roll down his cheek, "but he didn't expect you and your brother to be there, he would have killed you too but the police took him away."

"i wanted him to shoot me." Midonatio said suddenly.

"don't say that." Itachi said sternly and wiped the tear away, "never say silly things Namikazi Midonatio."

the shadow teen bit his lip hard, to stop the sobs; he loved how his real name sounded coming from Itachi.

"are you going to tell your precious brother?" Midonatio asked bitterly; the last thing he wanted was Sasuke to know about their past, their heritage.

Itachi continued to stroke Midonatio's dark hair, "no. I won't say anything." the elder Uchiha promised and the heavy feeling in Midonatio's stomach lifted slightly.

The pair sat in silence for a while, the sun setting slowly behind the far-away houses.

Suddenly the metal doors banged open and an angry looking Naruto stormed out, Midonatio had never seen his brother look so furious.

"Naru-nii-san!" Midonatio shouted before his brain could gear in; he hadn't called his big brother that since that day.

Naruto's blue eyes looked over, slightly surprised, "Mid!" his blond brother stormed over.

Seconds later Sasuke came wizzing out of the door, a strange look on his face, "don't run from me!" he yelled after Naruto.

"go away." Naruto shouted over his shoulder, "let's go." he said to Midonatio before grabbing his younger twins hand and dragging him away.

"Naruto, what happened?" Midonatio asked completely confused.

The hand holding his tightened slightly, "i don't want to talk about it." Naruto said in a stern voice, shocking the shadow teen, "let's just get back."

there was a slight roaring sound from the road and Itachi's bright red sports car came into view; it slowed and the window rolled down.

"want a lift?" Itachi asked with a smile and Midonatio blushed.

However he knew something must have gone on between Sasuke, who he could see sulking in the back seat, and his brother, so he said, "you're not going our way." it was a downright lie; the Uchiha District was at the end of the town, all roads led to it.

Midonatio gave Itachi a look that told him to go and they would talk another time; with another smile the sports car sped off down the road and out of sight.

Slowly Naruto came to a stop; Midonatio gave him a strange look, "you never get angry." he mentioned casually.

"very good reason." Naruto hissed under his breath.

The shadow teen laughed at his sun brother, "so, we can never talk about it?"

"not yet." the blond boy looked away and the twins carried on walking back to the hellhole they lived in, ready to take the punishment for being late.


	10. The Prince Falls For The Sun

The Prince Falls For The Sun:

Sasuke didn't mind having detention; it meant he didn't have to pretend to like his 'friends' and that he could do his homework that would otherwise remain unfinished until the day it had to be handed in.

however, Sasuke did mind having a detention with Uzamaki Naruto. The blond boy had always confused the youngest Uchiha, he was rumoured to be the older twin of him and his delinquent brother but he defiantly didn't act like it.

"i want you two to sit in silence while I go see to something." Kakashi told them both as he slipped his little orange book into his back pocket and left the classroom.

For several minuets Sasuke tried to concentrate on his physic homework but it seemed that he could hear everything ten times better.

Sasuke turned in his seat to look at Naruto, who was writing down all of his notes onto another piece of paper.

"hey." Sasuke hissed and then frowned at himself; was he really that bored that he was going to talk to Uzamaki?, "hey." he hissed again and Naruto finally looked up.

"kakashi said that we aren't meant to talk." the blond teen whispered back, his pen pausing.

Sasuke smiled, "well, you're already broken that rule." he teased.

Naruto flushed under his whisker marks, Sasuke had always liked those whisker marks.

"what do you want?" Naruto snapped, shocking the youngest Uchiha.

"aren't you grumpy." he liked teasing Naruto, it made his guilt feel less.

Breathing heavily through his nose Naruto slammed his pen down and stared at Sasuke, "well, its thanks to you I'm going to be late home." the blond sighed deeply and looked out of the window.

Sasuke smiled, he like this Naruto, that wasn't hiding behind his brother and wasn't afraid to speak to him.

Sasuke didn't like the vile sound his chair made as he stood up and took the vacant seat beside Naruto; such a bold move for him but there wasn't anyone around to judge him.

The elder Uzamaki twin was still staring out of the window so Sasuke looked at what Naruto had been writing; he was coping his own notes onto another bit of paper.

"what are you doing?" Sasuke asked as he read the history notes.

He felt Naruto jump with surprise beside him and with a furious face he grabbed the papers out of Sasuke hands, stuffing them back in his beat-up bag.

"Mid doesn't take notes." Naruto mumbled, "i don't want him to fail."

"aren't you kind." Sasuke smiled, relaxing in Naruto's presence.

Naruto huffed, "don't mock me Uchiha. It's not fair."

the afternoon sunlight seeped through the window and made Naruto's hair shine gold, "he looks amazing." Sasuke's mind said and he wasn't surprised, his dreams mainly consisted of doing dirty things to Naruto in so many different ways.

"listen, I'm sorry what I said this morning." Sasuke said, knowing that his words had come out of anger.

Naruto looked at him in surprise, his gorgeous blue eyes gleaming, "what did you say?" he breathed.

Frowning Sasuke snapped, "i'm not going to say it again."

"if you're sorry then why did you even say them?" Naruto asked in a fury.

Now Sasuke felt under pressure, someone was demanding answers from him but if he was ever going to get closer to Uzamaki Naruto then he would have to be nice.

"when I get angry my mouth just runs away with me." Sasuke admitted.

A small, barely heard laugh escaped from Naruto; such a lovely little sound that it made Sasuke's stomach quiver, "Mid's like that." Naruto said, even though he had laughed the blond looked sad.

Sasuke frowned, "has it always been just you and your brother?" he asked carefully.

The older Uzamaki's body stiffened, "yes, since we were five." he said in a tight voice.

"what happened to your parents? If that's not a personal question." Sasuke asked, knowing the answer immediately.

"it is a personal question." Naruto ground out, his beautiful eyes downcast.

"come on, who am I going to tell?" Sasuke said in the lightest voice he could.

"everyone." Naruto snapped, "can you move away please."

Sasuke hadn't noticed that he was leaning close to Naruto, but he had no intention of moving, "i haven't even told my 'friends' my parents names. Why would I tell them about this?" he tried; of course it was true, he hated them all.

The blond slammed his hands on the table, "to make our lives difficult, isn't that what you want?" Naruto snarled.

"no." Sasuke snarled back; he really had to start from the bottom, "i want to be your friend." he smiled kindly.

"well, you've got a funny way of showing it." Naruto blushed brightly.

Sasuke sighed lightly, trying to remain calm, "can't we just forget about the things that have happened and start again?" he asked and lay a hand on Naruto's.

But Naruto was frowning, "you practically tortured my brother and you want me to forget it all?" he whispered and tried to move his hand from under Sasuke's but the Uchiha pressed down slightly.

"alright, new plan." Sasuke said in his mind, "maybe not then, how about whatever we say in this room stays in this room?"

the hand under his balled up tightly, "how can I believe you?"

Sasuke decided that was enough to make his move; bringing his other hand up he placed it on the back of Naruto's neck, enjoying the heat radiating off him, and pulled the blond boy towards him, "what reasons do I have to lie?" he whispered against Naruto's slightly chapped lips.

Before Naruto could reply the youngest Uchiha pressed his lips onto Naruto's; "god this feels great." cheered Sasuke's mind, the kiss was so soft and warm and it only got better when Naruto began to kiss back.

Their tongues met ever so slightly, a wonderful tingle rushed through Sasuke's body and finally they pulled away from each other, a tiny string of saliva connected them.

Naruto was gasping slightly, the youngest Uchiha smiled feeling completely different, all thoughts of just seducing him went away and he knew he felt more, "whatever happens in this room, stays in this room." he whispered.

The blond moved away a bit more, touching his swollen lips slightly, "okay." he breathed.

Sasuke took Naruto's hand again, "so, what did happen to your parents. What about your life?" the youngest Uchiha asked.

The older twin sighed, "they were shot when I was five." he finally said, not meeting Sasuke's eyes.

That news shocked Sasuke; the whole school knew their parents were dead but that seemed so violent, "shot?" Sasuke repeated.

"i don't really remember what happened, Midonatio does. All I remember is a lot of shouting and a lot of red. Next thing I knew me and Mid were stood in an office while they figured out what to do with us." Naruto told him quickly.

Feeling his heart clench slightly, "someone shot your parents on purpose?" Sasuke asked carefully.

The blond shrugged, "i guess." he mumbled and Sasuke felt something wet fall onto his hand.

Sasuke's insides jumped; he never had to deal with someone crying before, "don't cry!" he said, "please don't." he pulled the blond close to his body again and felt the other body shake against his.

Naruto pushed away and wiped his eyes furiously, "sorry." he finally said and stopped crying shortly after; he cleared his throat noisily, "so, what about your parents?" the blond changed the subject.

Happy that Naruto had stopped crying the youngest Uchiha smiled, "my dad works a lot, he's head of police. He's pretty boring but he's my father." he told Naruto with a shrug, "my mother takes care of our house, I heard she used to be really smart when she was younger but then she had Itachi. My mum's awesome. They're always busy but I know they love me." he smiled at his own words.

"they do sound great." Naruto said kindly with a sad smile.

Sasuke's thumb found a small scar on one of Naruto's finger, "what are your guardians like?" the black haired boy asked.

"they suck." Naruto said bluntly, "me and Mid have to keep house and they hit..." he trailed off quickly.

Sasuke forced the blond to look at him, a sick feeling sitting in his stomach, "do they hit you?" he asked sternly.

The older Uzamaki shook his head, "forget I said anything." he begged.

"Naruto." Sasuke hissed.

Naruto's tensed shoulders relaxed suddenly, he sighed greatly, "they try to hit me but Mid always gets in the way."

the sick feeling had climbed up to Sasuke's throat, "you have to tell someone." he told him in a strained voice.

"no point." Naruto said sternly, "only three more years and we get all the money our parents left us and then we can move out."

"will you last three years?" the black haired boy asked seriously.

Naruto's back straightened and he set Sasuke with a strong look, "we've lasted ten years, three more won't kill us."

Sasuke nodded, not believing him but he knew the detention was ending and Kakashi would be back any moment, "come here." he said, unable to resist any longer, and pulled the blond into another kiss.

The kiss was just as good as before, every so often their tongues would meet but Sasuke pushed the kiss no further, and they only pulled away when the door opened.

Sasuke sprang away, pulling a stray piece of paper towards him; Kakashi frowned at them, "i thought I said no talking." he said to them both.

"Uzamaki was just lending me some notes." Sasuke said as he folded up the blank piece of paper.

Kakashi shrugged, "detention is over, I hope you learnt your lesson." his tone was bored and he waved them out.

Quickly collecting his things Sasuke was first out of the door but he heard Naruto run after him, "hey Sasuke!" he called and the black haired boy's heart clenched, the thing he did next would kill him; outside out a classroom Sasuke knew he had to keep his distance.

"what do you want?" he snarled, he knew everything he was about to say would break his and Naruto's hearts.

Naruto fell into step with him with a tiny frown on his still flushed face, "i was wondering if you wanted to walk home together?" he asked cheerily.

Sasuke snorted, "as if."

the blond looked shocked, "what's wrong with you?" he asked quickly as they walked down the stairs, "what about back there?" he pointed back in the direction of the classroom.

Sasuke felt his heart breaking but it had to be done, "what about it? It was just a kiss and some pretty juicy information." he felt sick with himself but it would be better for Naruto if they went back to hating each other. It would be safer for everyone.

"but you said..." Naruto breathed, coming to a stop, "you told me about your parents." Sasuke could see the tears shining in those big blue eyes.

Sasuke snorted loudly, "i told you a bunch of lies. Can't believe you fell for them." he gave a cold laugh, "and you kissed me without a thought. What a slut." he was very nearly sick.

Sasuke watched in slow motion as the tears in Naruto's eyes went away and an angry scowl was set in place, "i hate you Uchiha. You're scum." the older Uzamaki snarled and stormed passed.

The youngest Uchiha's breath hit him violently as Naruto left; those words coming from Midonatio had never bothered Sasuke but to hear them from someone he cared about dearly broke everything. Granted he had said those evil things but he couldn't let anyone know how he felt about the blond. At least not yet. Or did he; Itachi had waited till after school to come out, but if Sasuke came out now he could protect Naruto a hell of a lot better.

With that in mind Sasuke ran after Naruto; "don't run from me!" he shouted, it wasn't too late to explain.

He was surprised to see both Midonatio and Itachi there, both looking confused, "go away!" Naruto shouted back and then stormed off, his hands entwined with his twins.

Sasuke's heart clenched, "we need to go after them." he said quickly to his brother.

"you made him angry." Itachi snarled, "twice in one day Sasuke. Get in the car, I'll see what I can do."

the youngest Uchiha brother felt disappointed with himself; he climbed into the back of his brother's sports car and he saw the familuar twins as they drove closer, "want a lift?" Itachi asked with a smile.

Sasuke saw the blush on Midonatio's face, and the angry look on Naruto's, "you're not going our way." the youngest twin said and smiled at Itachi.

Closing the window again Itachi drove away and Sasuke felt a lump in his throat, "want to tell me what happened?" Itachi asked, "and I don't mean about this morning, Mid told me."

ignoring the last part Sasuke refused to look up, his brother made a sharp corner, "tell me Sasuke." Itachi snapped in a way that only he could.

"i kissed him." Sasuke finally said, "and he kissed me back."

Itachi looked in the rearview mirror with a confused look, "isn't that a good thing?" he asked, "what else happened?"

Sasuke suddenly felt tears prickling his eyes as he remembered his harsh words to the already broken blond, "i called him a slut." he whispered.

Itachi slammed on the breaks suddenly and the youngest Uchiha was thrown forwards, for the second time that day, luckily they were in their homes driveway. His brother turned fully in his seat, while Sasuke pouted like a five year old.

"why did you do that?what they hell possessed you to say such a thing to him?"Itachi shouted, making Sasuke feel smaller by the word, "what is wrong with you Sasuke? How could you be so stupid?"

"i'm trying to protect him." Sasuke mumbled.

"by calling him a slut?" Itachi was very red in the face.

Sasuke finally met his brother's dark eyes, "you wouldn't understand. I thought people would destroy him if they knew he liked me." he argued.

Itachi rolled his eyes, "you're a moron."

"i changed my mind though." Sasuke quickly added, "i don't care what people think of me, and I can protect him if I'm with him."

sighing deeply, Itachi rubbed his tired eyes, "thought of that a bit late." he looked over at his brother with sympathy, "you take after father too much."

Sasuke looked away again, "i'll make this better." he said mostly to himself.

Itachi nodded and got out of the car, "get out now or get locked in." he warned with a small laugh.

Stepping out the fresh air hit Sasuke and it was refreshing; he figured that tomorrow he would make everything better, maybe even confess. His heart leapt happily at that thought.


	11. Love Is For Fools

Love Is For Fools:

"Where the hell have you two been?" Tulip screamed at the top of her voice as soon as the twins closed the door.

Instinctively Midonatio stood in front of Naruto and set the woman with a fierce glare.

Tulip had aged badly the past ten years; she claimed to have a stressed life even though the twins did all the housework and food shopping, not to mention the cooking. Her brown eyes looked heavy and grey hairs were sprouting all over her brown hair.

"we had detention." Midonatio ground out as calmly as he could.

The brown boring woman grabbed the shadow teen roughly, her cheap fake nails digging into his skin, "that is no excuse." she hissed viciously, "your problems aren't mine." Tulip reach out and gripped Naruto too, but only caught his top, "get. To. Your. Chores." she ground out and pushed away.

A loud television program vibrated through the walls as Midonatio began to make dinner and Naruto went upstairs to start cleaning.

Slicing the vegetables Midonatio's mind wondered back to Uchiha Itachi; his kind words and his amazing smell. Everything about him made the shadow teen melt inside, Itachi's eyes were wonderful and it helped that Itachi knew about his past, his parents.

Midonatio gasped as the kitchen knife grazed his finger, "maybe I shouldn't daydream while I'm holding a knife." he half laughed to himself.

There were no please or thank you's at the dinner table as the shadow teen set out the food, but he didn't expect them. As he tidied he filled his aching belly but still save some for Naruto, hiding them in a paper towel.

By six o' clock the Mayson household was sparkling clean, the only mess was the ones surrounding the family as they slobbed in front of their television.

"here are your notes." Naruto said when they were finally alone in their 'bedroom'.

Turning on the concrete seat by the desk Midonatio took the few pieces of paper; the youngest twin frowned, Naruto had stopped writing halfway through a sentence but he guessed it was something to do the the Uchiha.

"why do we need to learn about the past?" Midonatio groaned.

Sitting on his messy bed Naruto smiled sadly, "the past is important."

Midonatio made a face and started working on the Medieval timeline; Naruto kept his blue eyes trained on his brother.

"what's wrong Naru?" Midonatio finally asked, getting annoyed that his brother was just staring at him.

Swollowing loudly the sun teen finally said, "what do you remember about mum and dad?"

the pendent around Midonatio's neck suddenly felt very heavy; he's never shown his big brother the pendent, but they had never talked about their parents before.

"not that much." the shadow teen lied, turning to face Naruto, "why?"

Naruto shrugged, "i just wanted to know." he mumbled.

With a small smile Midonatio figured that they had to talk about them sometime, "dad always wore a suit." he said absent-mindedly.

Naruto's eyes lit up as his baby brother continued speaking, "mum used to have to force him out of the door in the mornings." Midonatio knew Naruto remember things like that, people remember happy things, "you look loads like dad."

smiling Naruto nodded softly but then his face became slightly more serious, "what about..." he trailed off but Midonatio knew what he wanted to know.

"the day they died," the shadow teen began with a sigh, his eyes darting to the bloodstained fairytale book under his pillow, "dad didn't want to do any work because we were there. Mum was tidying up around us all."

Midonatio felt a lump in his throat but he knew he had to carry on, for the both of them, "i heard something outside. My fault mum was so close to the door." he waved Naruto down when he went to protest the statement, "then that man burst in with a gun and..."

"no more." Naruto snapped in a harsh whisper, his eyes squeezed shut.

The twins sat in silence for a while, listening to the sound from upstairs, finally the youngest twin broke it, "why did you ask Naruto?"

Naruto's blue eyes were filled with tears but none spilled out, "i just wanted to know. I don't remember anything." he whispered.

Midonatio frowned, "why now?" he questioned seriously.

Blue eyes suddenly looked down, a guilty action; Midonatio stood violently, the cement block slamming to the ground and he fix Naruto with a serious glare, "did the Uchiha say something to you?" he snarled.

The blond shifted uncomfortably, "sort of." he mumbled but the anger in Midonatio was getting bigger.

"what do you mean?" the shadow teen snapped, "tell me!" he demanded and forced his brother to look at him.

Midonatio had never used any kind of force or even raised his voice to Naruto but the topic was very important.

"he asked me and I told him no!" Naruto shouted back, standing to meet his brother's eyes for a moment but then they shot back to the ground, "and then he...he kissed me." he added quietly.

All the colour drained out of Midonatio and his breath left him, "did you kiss him back?" the question came out in less than a whisper.

Naruto nodded but then quickly met his brother's eyes again, anger shining in them, "but he broke my heart okay. He lied to me and insulted me." he took a deep breath.

Sighing in defeat Midonatio placed a hand on his big brother's arm, "i'll get him back for you." he half joked with a mild smile.

Putting the cement seat upright again the shadow teen sat back down but put all his papers into his bag.

"i still really like him." Naruto said to Midonatio's back.

Groaning Midonatio slammed his forehead onto the old wooden desk, "i thought you would." he spoke into the desk, ignoring the stinging pain on his forehead.

"maybe he didn't mean what he said." Naruto continued, slightly hope in his voice, "you know, he has that tough guy, super popular reputation to keep up."

Midonatio turned with a smile, "i know you want to believe that and I won't stop you." he said kindly, thoughts of Itachi swirling in his mind again.

How can he say not to love someone when he so obviously loved someone who was out his league too; Uchiha's had an unfortunate air about them.

Naruto looked surprised, "really? But you hate Sasuke."

sighing the shadow teen threw himself carefully onto his bed, "and I always will but, Naru, we're fifteen now. I can't protect you forever." he said and added a small laugh, "no matter how much I try."

laughing too Naruto sat on his own bed, "your sudden mood is strange. Did Itachi say something to you?" he asked softly.

"we talked." Midonatio replied with a smile.

"well, he must have said something good." Naruto laughed, "and don't worry." the big brother met his little brother's eyes across the room, "i'll be careful around Sasuke."

the silence settled again, the noise upstairs had turned to some singing show; the ceiling had damp, creating nasty puddles of dark colour all over the ceiling.

"i really like Itachi." Midonatio suddenly confessed.

"i guessed as much." Naruto sounded half asleep, making the shadow teen feel the same.

Midonatio yawned widely, "we're fools big brother. Fools."

no answer came, Naruto had fallen asleep, still fully clothed but it made no difference, Midonatio soon followed, the air finally still.


	12. The Invite

The Invite:

the next morning Itachi insisted on driving Sasuke to school, their mother didn't mind; she had found some strange tea in town yesterday and was still trying to read the instructions, since she refused to wear her glasses it was proving more difficult.

Itachi still wasn't happy that Sasuke had called the boy he claimed to care about 'a slut' but he didn't say anything.

"what do you want to do for your birthday?" Itachi asked as they set off.

Sasuke shrugged, his leather jacket making a squeaking sound on the leather seat as he shifted.

"do you want a big party or just Naruto in your bed?" the older Uchiha teased.

The colour rose and then drained from Sasuke's face, "i'll have a party." he mumbled unhappily, "bigger confession."

Itachi frowned, "i thought you were confessing today?" he asked.

"no." Sasuke said quickly, "he'll probably still be annoyed with me. I need to do romantic, not fling." he sounded determined.

"i'm proud of you." Itachi smiled.

Suddenly both brothers spotted two figures on the path ahead of them; Naruto was dressed in green with black trousers, while Midonatio was in a black and white starry top with blue shorts.

Missing the puddle he had splashed them with yesterday, Itachi slowed down and rolled the window down.

"good morning." Itachi greeted, making them both jump but Midonatio smiled.

"hello." the shadow teen said kindly.

Sasuke leaned to look around his brother, to see the blond but he had been right; Naruto was still annoyed with him, not even looking in his direction and flushed with annoyance.

"would you like a lift?" the older Uchiha offered.

Midonatio wrinkled his nose but still smiled, his odd eyes shining, "we're okay. Don't want to be too early." he placed a hand on the open window and Itachi had to fight not to touch him, "thanks for the offer."

and with that the twins walked away from the car, talking in low whispers and didn't look back.

Sasuke glanced at his dazed faced brother and something clicked, "do you fancy Midonatio?" he asked, only half shocked.

Itachi came out of his daze, cleared his throat and began driving again, passing the Uzamaki twins quickly, "yes I do." Itachi finally said.

"you do know he's fifteen?" Sasuke asked, feeling the concern, "and you're nineteen."

"i know how old we are." Itachi snapped, "but he's sixteen this year and four years isn't that much." he explained.

Sasuke sighed deeply, "whatever. Just be careful." he warned gently.

"if you're allowed to be in love at fifteen, then I'm allowed to be in love at nineteen." the older Uchiha said sternly.

Sasuke held up his hands in defeat; he had to admit he saw nothing wrong with four years difference, as long as Itachi kept his hands to himself till the other boy turned sixteen. The last thing he wanted was his brother in trouble.

It did also mean he would have to control himself till Naruto turned sixteen, but he didn't even know how long he would be waiting.

"so, what kind of party do you want?" Itachi asked when they stopped at the traffic lights.

"a big one. The whole of my year there." Sasuke answered immediately.

Raising an eyebrow Itachi glanced at his younger brother, "you never want a big party, mother normally forces you to have one." he laughed lightly.

"i want to confess in front of the whole school. I'm a Uchiha, we don't do anything by halfs." Sasuke said proudly.

Itachi smiled gently, "too true." he agreed.

The youngest Uchiha's heart sank when he saw Sakura, Ino and Kiba waiting for him by the gates, "i'll print up some invites today." Itachi promised, "one big party coming your way." he went to ruffle Sasuke's hair but he darted out of the car.

"shouldn't you be at work?" Sasuke asked and slammed the door.

Itachi laughed loudly; he worked at the Police Station with their father but he mainly did paperwork and mainly worked from home.

"good morning Sasuke-kun!" squealed Sakura and Ino as he approached them.

"what up man." Kiba greeted with a high five.

"i'm having a big birthday party." Sasuke informed them immediately.

The girl dissolved into squeals, Kiba rolled his eyes and bared his teeth in a smile, "sixteen next week and still a virgin." he teased.

"shut up dog-boy." Sasuke snapped, not amused, "i'm not a slut."

unfortunatly as soon as he said 'slut', Naruto and Midonatio walked through the gates; he bit his tongue and watched the blond walk through the crowds, not sparing him a glance.

"who are you inviting Sasuke-kun?" Ino asked, her ponytail swishing.

Sasuke sighed, "the whole of our year. I'm going to be sixteen and it's going to be big." he gave them a fake smile.

Neji and Rock Lee soon joined them; they had been training since sunrise and yet they seemed wide awake.

By lunchtime the whole school knew about Sasuke's sixteenth birthday party but he didn't tell anyone what would be going on, mainly because he didn't know himself but he could trust Itachi to put on a great party.

Looking over the playground Sasuke found Naruto and his brother, sitting on one of the grassy patches, with no food but their books open.

Sasuke felt unhappy just watching them but he had to control himself till next week.

"what kind of party is it Uchiha?" Neji asked casually, biting into an apple.

Sasuke shrugged, "i left it to Itachi, so heck knows." he took a swig of his drink.

"you sure that's wise?" Neji was frowning slightly, clouding his pale eyes.

"who knows." the youngest Uchiha mumbled.

"it's going to be so fun!" the girls squealed again.

The youngest Uchiha just rolled his eyes and sat in silence while everyone else discussed his birthday; several times girls from the year or two below them came up to Sasuke and asked to be invited but he shot them down instantly.

Towards the end of lunch Sasuke's 'friends' went off to do their own things, of course Sasuke had something important to do; he had found out during IT, while he was meant to be doing work, that the Uzamaki twins lived with Jona and Theo Mayton, the most suck-up boys in the whole school.

Finally he spotted them by the library; larger than most and ghastly dressed, expensive labels but no fashion sense. Brown haired and dull faced but easily influenced.

"Jona and Theo Mayton right?" Sasuke asked in a cool voice.

One of them looked like he was about to faint, Sasuke didn't care which one was which, it hardly mattered.

"Sasuke Uchiha!" the other one gasped, then tried to compose his cool, "what's up dude."

he was very close to hitting the boy but he took a breath and put on his best charms, "as you know my birthday is next week and my brother is big on handing out invites personally but I don't know where you live." Sasuke lowered his eyes and glanced up at them, Uchiha charm radiating off him, "and that just seems unfair."

Sasuke was rewarded by both boys practically melting in front of him; they mumbled stupidly and wrote down an address.

With a killer smile the youngest Uchiha took the address, bid them an overly nice farewell and went towards his classroom.

School finally finished and when he left the building he saw Itachi waiting for me with a stack of red envelopes under his arm.

"that was quick." Sasuke commented smoothly.

Itachi smiled smugly, "i did my best." he looked overly pleased with himself.

The Uchiha brothers slid into the sports car, the doors locked automatically and Itachi handed Sasuke over one of the envelopes; it was made out of thick, metallic card, a wax print of the Uchiha Fan sealed it shut and Sasuke's name was written in gold on the front in swirling letters.

Snapping the wax along the line the youngest Uchiha read his own birthday invite, printed on the finest paper:

_Sasuke Uchiha,_

_you are cordiality invited to the sixteenth birthday of _

_Sasuke Uchiha_

_The celebration will be held at the Uchiha Manor on the 23__rd__ of July_

_from 8pm till Midnight._

_In honour of our heritage the theme is Royalty_

_Princes, Princesses, Dukes, Duchesses, Kings and Queens_

_No response necessary_

_We look forward to your attendance._

Sasuke smiled, "royalty huh?" he glanced at his brother, "very nice, but only four hours?"

"is more than enough time." Itachi said sternly, "the whole reason you're having a big party is to confess to a certain blond." his dark eyes looked out the window at Naruto.

Sasuke blushed slightly at the sight of Naruto, who was obviously waiting for his brother, the younger Uchiha bit his lip, "shall I give him the invite now?" he asked Itachi without looking at him.

"no." Itachi answered immediately, "i know where they live. We go tonight."

Sasuke sighed inside; so he hadn't needed to even talk to the Mayton loser twins. Suddenly Naruto began shouting; Sasuke rolled the window down to hear better.

"not now Mid!" the books Naruto had been holding crashed to the floor and he reach for his brother.

Midonatio had come running from the main building and he was making a beeline for Neji.

"this isn't going to end well." Itachi mumbled, his hand on the door handle.

"Hyuga!" Midonatio roared, "i want a word with you." he grabbed Neji's long ponytail, yanking him back violently.

"Mid." Naruto gasped and reached out to comfort his little brother but didn't seem to want to touch him.

Neji held his ponytail tightly, trying to pry it from Midonatio's thin fingers, "get off now or you'll regret it Uzamaki." Neji warned in a low tone.

"i doubt that." the shadow teen snarled, baring his teeth, "why did you lie you Kabato?"

"I told you to let go." Neji repeated, his knuckles becoming white as he still tried to pry away Midonatio.

The shadow teen only pulled harder, nearly making Hyuga topple over, "why did you lie?" Midonatio demanded again.

"Midonatio, stop it." Naruto finally got the effort to pull his brother back but it caused no effect.

"i'll stop this." Itachi suddenly hissed in Sasuke's ear, making him jump and he climbed out of the car, "is there a problem?" the elder Uchiha brother called to the rowing boys.

Something in Midonatio's face softened as soon as he saw Itachi but his grip didn't lessen from the hair in hand, "just sorting something out." the younger boy finally said slightly breathlessly.

Sasuke flung his door open as soon as he noticed the look in Neji's colourless eyes but he was too late; while Midonatio had his attention on Itachi, the long haired boy swung his leg up and into the shadow teens stomach.

Watching in slow motion he saw Midonatio hit the ground hard, gasping for breath, clutching his stomach and swearing loudly. Moments later Naruto was by his side and Itachi was running around the car.

Neji casually flicked a strand of his hair out of his face and began to walk away, he spotted Sasuke and smiled insincerely, "good kick, huh, Uchiha."

Sasuke took a while to swallow whatever was stuck in his throat as his eyes darted from Neji to Midonatio.

"can you sit up Mid?" Naruto's voice was strained.

Itachi placed his hand on Naruto's, jealousy firing up in Sasuke's belly, "don't move him." the older Uchiha warned, his face etched with worry, "can you breath?" he asked Midonatio and went to lift his top but he was stopped.

"it's fine." Midonatio's voice was broken and wincing he sat up, "just leave it."

Sasuke's fingers twitched on the door as he saw how the shadow teen's body shook as he slowly stood, but he wasn't surprised, Neji trained long and hard for a reason and Sasuke didn't know what to do.

"does it hurt?" he finally asked but his voice was monotone, making him sound uncaring.

All three sets of eyes turned angrily on him but no-one said anything; Midonatio stood up straight, everything still shaking, and began to walk away, with Naruto is close pursuit, a kind hand placed at the base of his brother's back.

Disappointment set in Sasuke's stomach; he hadn't been able to help, he had seen that look in Neji's eyes and could have stopped it with a single shout and now they hated him even more, thinking he was gloating over the younger twins pain.

Itachi watched the shadow and the sun walk away sadly, "would you like a lift?" he suddenly called after them, the common phase.

Midonatio's smile didn't reach his eyes as he half turned to the older Uchiha, "nah thanks." the fakeness in his voice made Itachi's heart hurt, "it's not like i've never been beaten up before."

very slowly the twins left, leaving a nasty silence, finally Itachi sighed and came back to the car; the Uchiha brothers sat in silence, Itachi gripped his steering wheel so tightly that his whole hand went white and Sasuke seemed to only stare ahead.

"i hate Neji." Itachi said in low voice through his teeth.

Sasuke still couldn't look away, "i hate him too." he agreed.

"we'll get you out of this rut Sasuke." Itachi said sternly and finally the younger Uchiha looked at his big brother, who started the car angrily, "i promise that." he added and they drove the long way home.

Apparently Itachi had been very busy during Sasuke's time at school; instead of doing his important work for the Police Force he had spent it doing his little brother's birthday invites.

There were hundreds of receipts scattered all across the living room floor in front of their mother; she flushed with happiness as soon as her sons came into the room.

"Oh Sasuke!" she cheered, not getting up, "i'm so glad you agreed to a big party, I'm pulling out all the stops."

Sasuke mentally rolled his eyes; Itachi and their mother were too much alike, "don't spend too much mother." he warned but couldn't help but smile, "father will do his nut."

their mother, Minako, laughed shrilly, "don't be silly darling, I put lots of money aside for your sixteenth, eighteenth and twenty-firsts. Same as I have with Itachi."

"just leave her to it." Itachi said and left the room.

Sasuke followed, feeling the dread but also determined to clear the air, "i didn't mean to sound nasty." he said firmly.

Itachi sighed, sweeping his long bangs from his face, "i know, too much like mother," he pointed to himself, "too much like father." he pointed at Sasuke.

"when are we going to Naruto's?" Sasuke asked.

Pulling out four envelopes Itachi smiled kindly, "as soon as it's dark."

darkness couldn't come soon enough; leaving their mother still on the living room floor trying to work the laptop. Their father still hadn't come home from the station.

The night air was chilled, bitter on Sasuke's exposed skin but Itachi's car was colder; the house they drove up to was a basic two storey house, only potted plants stood on the plain garden and two rooms were lit up.

"you sure they live here?" Itachi sounded disgusted.

Checking the piece of paper with the Mayton's address Sasuke nodded, "let's do this."

the Uchiha brothers walked up the gravel path and Itachi knocked on the white door; there was shouting from within and a clatter of china against itself.

A great heat hit the brother's as the door opened, light spilled out and a slightly more battered Midonatio stood before them; his lip was split and his arms scratched from wrist to elbow.

"Itachi." Midonatio gasped, his lip splitting and a small drop of blood trickled out.

Any colour that was in Itachi's face soon drained, he reached out but stopped short, "what happened?" he breathed.

Sasuke concentrated on the blood droplet on the shadow teen's lip, he knew what had happened, Naruto's words echoed in his head; _"they try to hit me but Mid always gets in the way."_

Midonatio quickly wiped the blood away, staining his lips, "doesn't matter." he told Itachi quickly, "what can I do for you?"

"Oi! Who are you talking to?" a gruff voice demanded and the Uchiha's noticed Midonatio flinch slightly.

A slightly taller man in his forties appeared behind the shadow teen; he had greying brown hair, dead eyes and an empty smile. He placed a gnarled hand on Midonatio's shoulder.

"go back in the kitchen." the man hissed in Midonatio's ear and for the first time Sasuke wished that the younger Uzamaki wouldn't leave.

With a last look at Itachi the shadow teen retreated back into the house, a door closed shortly after; the man smiled again, "can I help you?" his voice was slimy.

At the same time both Uchiha's puffed their chests out and put on their best charms, "my name is Uchiha Itachi and this is my younger brother Uchiha Sasuke." Itachi said in his 'police voice'.

The man's dead eyes lit up slightly, "and what can I do for the Uchiha children today?" he asked.

"may we come in?" Sasuke asked.

Without a second thought the man stood aside and the Uchiha brothers entered; everything was beige or a very dull shade of green, it looked like a house in an old magazine but the pages had faded.

"my name is Bud Mayton by the way." the man, Bud, told them as be closed the door.

Sasuke turned to him gracefully, "we know, your boys are in my year." he said coolly.

A door to the right opened and the two large Mayton twins emerged; their dull little faces lit up when they spotted Sasuke.

"what are you doing here?" one of them asked, already in his pyjama bottoms.

Itachi slid two of the red envelopes to Sasuke, he took a deep breath, "as you already know I'm turning sixteen next week and I am here to personally invite you." his voice was calm and he held out the invites to the jibbing teens.

"say thank you Theo. Jona." Bud instructed his sons but no such words came from the twins.

Itachi turned with a charming smile, "where are the other two?" he asked.

Bud's face twitched for a moment, the little light in his eyes died, "other two?" he repeated, trying to sound confused.

That lovely, evil little glint appeared in Itachi's eyes, the one he got when he knew he had someone cornered, "yes, the other two. Uzamaki Naruto and Midonatio." he hated using their fake last name but Sasuke was stood next to him.

The twitch again and he smiled painfully, stalking away stiffly he snapped Midonatio's name through the door to the left and then Naruto's name upstairs.

It didn't take the Uzamaki twins to appear, Naruto carrying a washing basket and Midonatio was hiding his eyes.

"what do you want?" Naruto snapped as soon as he spotted Sasuke.

"don't speak to him like that you idiot." one of the Mayton twins snarled.

The blond paled slightly and didn't say anything; Sasuke took a deep breath, trying not to get lost in Naruto's amazing eyes.

"i am inviting my whole year to my sixteenth." Sasuke said strongly, keeping his eyes trained on Naruto, "i want everyone there."

he held out the envelope, trying to stop his hand from shaking and smiled softly. Much to his shock the sun teen smiled too and took the invite, placing it in the washing basket.

"thanks Uchiha." Naruto's smile fell, "still hate you." and with that he turned on his heel and vanished upstairs.

Itachi could see Bud's hands shaking and his fingers twitching, a gesture that he wanted to hit something. Putting it in the police part of his brain Itachi held out Midonatio's invite.

"everyone is invited." Itachi said softly.

With a smile identical to his brother's the shadow teen took the invite and held it tightly to his stomach, "thank you." he said in a stronger voice.

"see you then." Sasuke said and cleared his throat noisily.

Bud opened the door to the Uchiha brothers; the nights air felt a lot nicer than the air in the Mayton household, even if it was still bitter and they bid the boring man a charm filled goodbye.

"farewell then, but, um," Bud started and the brothers frowned slightly, "don't be surprised if the Uzamaki's don't make it. They're very busy." he gave a slimy smile again.

"i want _everyone_ at my birthday. End of." Sasuke told the man firmly and then walked away without another word.

The drive back to the Uchiha Manor was quiet but nice; even though Naruto had said he hated Sasuke that smile beforehand had said otherwise and a little fire of hope was lit in Sasuke's heart.

"step one in motion." Itachi broke through his little brother's thoughts, "step two is making sure mother doesn't buy you anything too embarrassing for your costume." he began laughing and Sasuke blushed at the memory of his twelfth birthday; being forced to go a Robin Hood, tights and all.


	13. Going No Matter What

Going No Matter What:

The day the Namikazi twins received the invites to Uchiha Sasuke's birthday was one of the worst in years; it hadn't been bad at the beginning, or even in the middle but as the sun began to vanish in the sky the good day vanished with it.

Kabato had stopped Midonatio from leaving the at the end of the day and accused his of cheating on his previous history essay. The glasses wearing teacher claimed every last word had been copied from Hyuga Neji and now he would be receiving lunch time detentions for the next three months unless he could prove otherwise.

The shadow teen had confronted the Hyuga, only to be shown how much training the other boy had put in.

the kick wasn't much of a shock, it wasn't the first time Midonatio had been beaten to the floor, but he had never had anyone try and check his wounds like Itachi tried.

"it's fine. Just leave it." he had said to the elder Uchiha as he tried to check the damage, but he had to push him away.

Midonatio was ashamed of his body, a beating a day didn't go without its damages, his body a patchwork of white scars, bruises and marks.

Naruto's body worked faster than his little brother's, his scars vanished within days and his bruises in what seemed like hours but some still littered his body.

The twins were late home again but this time Tulip didn't let it pass.

"i'll teach you." the aged woman ground out and reached for a heavy candlestick holder, "i'll teach you to be lazy."

Tulip aimed for Naruto, as she always did, but in a swift movement the shadow teen stepped in front and the blow hit him hard on the shoulder.

She didn't stop screaming as Midonatio forced his blond brother upstairs; her fake nails broke on his pale skin as she scraped down his arms, trying to force him to back down.

Finally Tulip flung the lighter boy to the floor, knocking over a hallway table and splitting his lip on the corner.

The sun teen had never felt so useless, just standing at the top of the stairs listening to his brother, the one person he was meant to protect, being beaten. Squeezing his eyes shut and remembering all the words Midonatio had said to him, Naruto waited for the kitchen door to shut before his brain allowed him to do anything.

Meanwhile, Midonatio winced every time he moved, everything was sore but he didn't care; as long as Naruto remained unscathed and he didn't break anything.

Halfway through the washing up someone called upon the house and when he answered the door all his aches and pains vanished.

Uchiha Itachi stood on the doorstep, still handsome but an unfortunate look of concern took over his features as soon as the wonderful met Midonatio's.

Suddenly Itachi was reaching out to him, asking what had happened but then stopped, like he barely wanted to touch him and couldn't take his eyes away.

Midonatio spotted Sasuke beside his taller brother, a pale look on his face, "it's nothing." Midonatio insisted, wiping the blood on his lip away, as if wiping away the problem, "what can I do for you?"

knowing that at that point Bud would normally appear at the door, demanding explanations, and just on cue Bud stormed out of the living room, shouting.

"go back to the kitchen." Bud hissed close to Midonatio's ear.

Unable to fight anymore for the day the shadow teen left but pressed his ear close to the door; he could hear Bud's slimy voice, the same he used when Midonatio's father was mayor, and the Mayton twins jibbering about something.

Upstairs Naruto could hear someone downstairs, cool, calm voices that he recognised somewhere in his mind but he also heard Bud so he kept upstairs. That was until he was called down.

Naruto finished loading the tumble dryer before even thinking about heading downstairs, still with the basket under his arm the blond teen was very surprised to see Sasuke standing in the hallway with Itachi.

The incident earlier that day, and the day before, vanished from his mind when Sasuke looked at him; his perfect eyes boring into him. Naruto knew that whatever the youngest Uchiha said at school he didn't mean, he was just trying to hold onto his reputation.

Naruto of course had his own plan.

Keeping his face blank Naruto snapped, "what do you want?" if Sasuke could be mean then so could the sun teen.

Jona snarled at him about being an idiot and Naruto instinctively flinched, he had forgotten Jona and Theo were there, so he kept his eyes on Sasuke and tried not to show any emotion.

"i am inviting my whole year to my sixteenth." Sasuke said clutching a red envelope in one hand, "i want everyone there."

Naruto's blank face dropped for a moment; the way the youngest Uchiha said that made everything within the sun teen feel light and he couldn't stop the hopeful smile that fought its way onto his face as he took the thick red envelope, "thanks." he said without thinking.

Quickly he composed himself, spotting the frozen Midonatio in the corner of his eye, and quickly dropped his smile, "still hate you." he added passionately and vanished back upstairs before he could look at Sasuke's face again.

As Naruto turned the corner and out of sight he drew a big breath, he hated being mean to Sasuke but they were more alike them anyone knew; they both had a reputation to keep up but hopefully that would all be over soon.

Midonatio was quite shocked to hear his big brother say he hated Sasuke, even though he saw through the mask, and then Itachi was suddenly holding out an identical envelope.

"everyone's invited." Itachi said in a soft voice.

Everything inside Midonatio stopped; if he was invited then he could be alone with Itachi and escape hell for a while. Taking the envelope he clutched it close to his person like it was the most precious gift he had ever been given.

"see you then." Sasuke finally piped up, surprising Midonatio slightly for even sounding half humane to him.

He watched them leave, wondering what Naruto was doing upstairs, "probably celebrating to himself." he mused in his head.

Naruto also watched them leave from a top floor window, his heart fluttering so he pressed the envelope from Sasuke to his chest to try and calm down but it wasn't helping.

He frowned when he saw Bud going after them; the older man's voice was muffled by the double glazed windows but when Sasuke spoke back to him, his voice muffled too, it sounded strong, determined and with no room for questions.

Naruto watched Itachi's red car drive away, the tumble drier humming loudly in the background and everything in the Mayton house was quiet, of course that was until Bud barged into the room.

Without a word, but looking very red in the face, he grabbed the sun teen tightly by the arm and forced him roughly down the stairs.

Memories from ten years ago washed over the Namikazi twins as they stood in the hallway; Midonatio and Naruto held their invites tightly in one hand and each other arms in the other, the shadow teen glared furiously at Bud and the sun teen wasn't too far behind.

"is there a problem?" Midonatio asked as calmly as he could.

"you. Are. Not. Going." Bud ground out, a vain in his neck throbbing slightly.

The twins shared a frown; Naruto held up his invite, "we were invited." he reminded their 'guardian' sternly.

"and they want everyone there." Midonatio added.

The colour in both Bud and Tulip rose several levels, "well, you are not allowed." Tulip's voice was higher than normal.

"what's stopping us?" Midonatio asked.

The small china figure flew close to the sun teen's face and broke wonky on the wall behind; Tulip was often so angry she would break the china figures from her mother and then would blame their breakage on the twins but she just seemed too angry.

"we won't allow it." Tulip shrieked.

"and if you want to continue living in this house then you will do as we say." the older man said.

Midonatio sighed and looked away, he could feel Naruto's arm shaking beneath his hand, "we'll see." he mumbled under his breath so just his brother could hear.

"give me the invites." Bud demanded, holding out his rough hands.

"no." Midonatio snapped.

The Namikazi twins hid their red envelopes behind their backs and stood strong as Bud and Tulip advanced on them.

"i said, give me them." the worn looking man ground out.

"now." his wife added.

Midonatio took a breath, "no." he repeated.

Bud gave a strange, strangulated roar and leapt at the twins; for the first time in a long time Naruto moved his brother out of the way and to their 'bedroom' door, "we have no intention of going anyway." the sun teen shouted behind them.

The Mayton's froze when Naruto shouted because he never rose his voice or even spoke back to them so the twins took the moment and ran to the basement, locking the door the second it closed.

Naruto quickly hid his invite in one of his messy school books so no-one else could find it. Midonatio stood at the base of the stairs, just staring at his big brother, a small smile gracing his lips, "what's gotten into you?" he asked.

Naruto turned with a killer smile, "i don't know." he admitted and laughed loudly.

Midonatio laughed too, "i hate to admit it but I think the Uchiha has a good effect on you."

the colour in Naruto's face climbed a few shades but he still smiled, "yeah." he mumbled and then cleared his throat noisily, "you had better hide your invite." Naruto quickly told him.

Midonatio fell to his knees by his bed and slid his old suitcase from underneath it; it had been years since the shadow teen had opened the case. His old clothes still sat within it, plus his plush that had been abandoned when Theo threatened to takes it stuffing out and of course the mahogany box filled with secrets.

Careful not to let Naruto see the box the shadow teen slipped the thick envelope in between his battered clothes.

"do you really not want to go?" Midonatio asked, glancing at his brother over his shoulder.

Naruto was still a very bright colour, "course I do. It's just figuring out how." he said with a thoughtful face.

The twins fell into a thoughtful silence, there was silence upstairs too, for a moment the moon shone through the dirty little window and something lit up in Midonatio's brain.

Naruto watched curiously as his younger brother stood on the desk and reached for the latch on the window; giving it several violent shoves, shaking the glass within its frame, it gave way and let some much needed fresh air into the damp celler.

Midonatio turned to his brother, "for once I'm glad to be so skinny." he said happily.

"you think we can fit through the window?" Naruto asked raising an eyebrow.

"we've got out of tighter spaces." the shadow teen laughed and soon the sun teen joined in.


	14. Best Of Nothing

Best From Nothing:

the night was cold but it was no more than what Midonatio expected, he had after all forced the tiny window open and jammed it ajar so it wouldn't get stuck again.

That wasn't the only thing keeping the shadow teen awake, even as his big brother snored softly on the other side of the room; the invite to Uchiha Sasuke's birthday party seemed to be calling to him from under the bed.

"stupid Uchiha." Midonatio mumbled unhappily under his breath.

Midonatio rolled off his mattress and onto the floor in one swift movement; the shadow teen clicked on a small flash light so he could see the contents of his old suitcase better.

He reached for his old clothes to take the invite from between them but stopped short, picking up the box of secrets instead and pulling out the photo album.

Light from flash light shone uselessly off the pages of the album, so he adjusted it so he could see them properly, the shadow teen had never looked inside the photo album; the first photo was exactly the same as the one in his locket, only bigger, the next couple were nearly exactly the same but they ranged in age and clothes.

In all of them all three of his parents were looking happily at the camera, standing close to each other and looking like they hadn't a care in the world.

Midonatio smiled to himself and flipped to the next page only to see a slightly sullen looking Eclipse back at him; her black hair was tied back tightly, dressed in a black and red dress and she was sat behind a large wooden desk.

"she was a mayor." the shadow teen remembered from his mum's letter, since he re-read it every year on the anniversary of their death.

Turning the page again he thought Naruto was looking back at him but quickly realised it was their father, his hair slightly less wild than the sun teen's, but he was dressed in a yellow tailcoat and matching mask he was holding a sign that said 'Yellow Flash'.

Next was their mum, her long red hair in loose curls and in a floor length dress covered in lace, frills and diamonds, she too held up a sign at shoulder level but her's said 'Red-Hot Habanero'.

Midonatio paused halfway through turning the next page when he heard someone moving about upstairs, so he waited till all was quiet again before continuing; his mother's black and silver dress was cut out at the front, revelling pale legs and her inky black hair was cut short, her sign read 'Dangerous Shadow'.

"the Yellow Flash, Red-Hot Habanero and Dangerous Shadow." Midonatio whispered, flipping backwards and forwards between the photos.

The rest of the album was just of all three of them, or one at a time, in various clothes, situations and different ages. The final picture was of both Eclipse and Minato sat behind the same desk in a red and black office, with Kushina stood between them, a hand on each shoulder and all of them beaming brightly.

The shadow teen closed the album softly, "maybe I should show Naruto this." he thought for a moment.

Midonatio replaced the album in its box and pulled out the red envelope from between his old pair of jeans; his name written in beautiful gold letters and everything about it said expensive.

Peeling back the wax print of the Uchiha Fan Midonatio slid the invite within out.

_Namakazi Midonatio _

_you are cordiality invited to the sixteenth birthday of _

_Sasuke Uchiha_

_The celebration will be held at the Uchiha Manor on the 23__rd__ of July_

_from 8pm till Midnight._

_In honour of our heritage the theme is Royalty_

_Princes, Princesses, Dukes, Duchesses, Kings and Queens_

_No response necessary_

_We look forward to your attendance._

"Royalty?" Midonatio mused, "how typical."

the Uchiha's family were the riches family in town, the father was head of the police department and the mother from a very well off family before she had even married.

Most of the male cousins, uncles and brothers worked for the police station too, they too had married well off woman.

The shadow teen sighed deeply, the cold air tickling his bare skin, "now I have to dress up." he thought moodily.

Midonatio was more than sure that their mum had dressed Naruto and he up when they were younger, he remembered her being the kind of woman to take grate amusement in cute but embarrassing things.

Suddenly Naruto fell out of bed, landing with an undignified noise on the cold floor and it took him several tries to untangle himself from his sheets; Midonatio raised an eyebrow and laughed lightly under his breath.

"i had a strange dream." Naruto finally said, his voice groggy with sleep.

"can you remember it?" the younger twin asked.

Naruto pouted slightly and even in the darkness Midonatio could see his brother blushing, "no." the sun teen mumbled.

"liar." Midonatio laughed, "bet it was about Sasuke."

the sun teen spluttered something unintelligent, suddenly very interested in his sheet and didn't look his baby brother in the eyes.

Midonatio smiled softly, "i was just reading the invite." he told Naruto suddenly and he turned his shocked blues eyes to Midonatio's odd ones.

"good point." Naruto said, his blush not subsiding, and dived at his school bag, emerging seconds later with his invite.

The sun teen sat next to his brother, ripping the envelope open with no grace and quickly read his invite; a small gasped escaped his lips and the colour drained his face.

"what's the matter?" Midonatio asked.

"it says Namikazi Naruto." the blond gasped, hands shaking slightly.

Midonatio smiled and took Naruto's hand in his, "Itachi knows about our past." he told his big brother softly, "he must have written all these."

Naruto looked very confused but quickly shook it off, part of him could trust Itachi too, "what's with all the royalty stuff?" he finally asked.

Shrugging Midonatio looked over at the boxes in the corner of the cellar; boxes filled with things that Jona and Theo had grown out of, things that were no longer wanted but there was no chance of them going to charity and things that wouldn't be missed. A sudden idea appeared in the shadow teen's head.

Midonatio flew across the room, leaving darkness behind him as he took the flash light; the boxes were unlabelled but it hardly mattered, "help me with these." he instrusted and began pulling the top box off.

After a few minuets the twins discovered two of the boxes contained mass amounts of clothes, while the other four were just filled with junk.

"what do you expect?" Naruto asked his brother's back as he bent inside a box, "to find an amazing outfit?"

Midonatio suddenly appeared again with what looked like a lace curtain in one hand, "i don't expect to find it." he answered slightly breathlessly, holding the dirty material up against his body, "i expect fate to be on our side for once."

the blond raised an eyebrow but said no more, the tiredness he had felt before was gone as he too began looking through the boxes; surprisingly Naruto found several things that were orange.

A beautiful orange shirt, age 12, with almost matalic swirls all over. An orange and black belt that would have to be resized if it was ever going around Naruto's thin hips. Several sets of brightly coloured shoe laces.

Midonatio made some discoveries of his own, beside the lace curtain; a thin material long coat in a slightly fade black. A silver shirt with glass buttons. A star covered tie that he remembered Theo wearing just the once.

"what are you planning to do with that curtain?" Naruto asked, sizing the belt up right.

The shadow teen held the item up, the light from the flash light shining straight through, "i'm gunna make masks." he said thoughtfully.

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "it doesn't say anything about masks."

"i know." Midonatio snapped lightly, "i just thought it would be nice."

"and how, my dear brother, do you intend to turn a pair of manky white lace curtains into masks?" the sun teen asked with a slight teasing in his voice.

The shadow teen dropped the material, finally the sun was beginning to shine through the window, giving him a strange glow, "it's a secret." he whispered.

They spent a while putting all the other stuff back into the boxes and shoving them back in the corner and finally get dressed properly. The clothes they had salveged were stashed safely in their old suitcases under the mattresses.

For the next couple of days and leading into the weekend Midonatio worked hard in making some masks for the two of them; even though the lace was dirty it didn't take more than some soapy water to get it white again, luckily it was Midonatio's turn to do the washing.

He thought it would be a problem since he had so little money but he made do with what he had, resulting in snapping several orange felt tips that belonged to the Mayton twins and using the leaking in to dye Naruto's mask.

For his own the shadow teen stole a bottle of ink from Neji's school bag during P.E., expencive stuff only to be soaked into the curtains.

After cutting them into eye-mask shapes he strengthened them into the right shape with a whole bottle of PVA glue and finished off with some of Tulip's old earrings.

The Namikazi twins hadn't had any contact with either Uchiha brother since the day they had dropped off the invites; they had seen Itachi's red sports car drive past them every morning but he never stopped to offer them lifts any more but the looks Sasuke gave Naruto when he thought no-one was looking said another story.

Finally the day was there, July the 23rd, Uchiha Sasuke's sixteenth birthday; the whole school was buzzing with excitement, at least the girls were, giving the youngest Uchiha a heap load of gifts ever before lunch time.

The twins watched in amusement as Sasuke tried to eat his lunch in peace but was interrupted every other moment. Midonatio nearly died laughing when one girl made the Uchiha jump and he accidentally choked on something he was eating.

"Mid." Naruto suddenly said from behind his notes, "what are we getting Sasuke for his birthday?"his blue eyes looked worried.

The shadow teen frowned, "you'll be giving him your love and I'll give him a day where I don't hate him." he said firmly and a blush stained Naruto's marked cheeks.

The blond cleared his throat, "shall we go there at ten tonight?" he asked quickly.

Midonatio nodded but suddenly someone was standing above them; bright green skinny jeans, a tight green top, big eyes and one very bushy eyebrow.

It was Rock Lee, another one of Sasuke's friends but one who never gave them any trouble, not that he usually gave them the time of day either.

"hello." Rock Lee said politely.

"afternoon." Naruto and Midonatio greeted.

Rock Lee straightened his shoulders, "i was wondering if you were going to Sasuke-kun's youthful birthday?" he asked cheerily.

The twins shared a look, "it's hardly 'youthful' if he's getting older." Midonatio mentioned and the other boy's shoulders dropped slightly.

"and we had no intention of going." Naruto added quickly, putting on his monotone voice, "why?" he inquired.

Rock Lee flushed a very strange colour of pink, "i know you two don't drive so I was wondering if you wanted a lift with me." he said

Midonatio stood quickly, shocking Rock Lee so much that he took a defensive stance, "and why would you offer something like that when you have never even talked to us. You want to drop us in some field in the dark?" the shadow teen snarled, "or make utter fools out of us, the poor kids?"

the bushy browed boy turned a darker shade of pink, "no." he exclaimed, "it's just, I live two doors down from you." that news shocked the twins, "and I thought I could spare you the journey but if you're not going." he turned to leave but Naruto caught his hand from where he was still sitting on the ground.

Naruto smiled brightly, "thank you but we're not going." he told the boy softly.

"not till ten." Midonatio mumbled under his breath but Rock Lee caught it.

His unibrow vanished under his bowl haircut, "so you are going?" he asked, the excitement in his voice again.

The shadow teen sighed deeply, "no offence but I wouldn't take a ride from one of Uchiha's friends anyway." he snapped as softly as he could.

Rock Lee nodded, "see you tonight then." he waved goodbye and ran at top speed back to his group of friends.

Midonatio flopped back onto the grass, "well, now they'll be expecting us." he sighed.

"nevermind." Naruto said, still smiling.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Rock Lee talking to Sasuke separate from the others.


	15. Scrub Up Well

Scrub Up Well:

that night the twins did their chores quicker than normal, with a constant eye on the clock, it didn't help that both Jona and Theo demanded that they were helped to be dressed in their best suits.

"i hope his trouser rip when he bends over." Midonatio fumed once they were alone in their 'room'.

Naruto laughed but hoped the same, "shall we get ready?" he asked his already exhausted brother.

"we'll wait for them to leave." Midonatio said softly.

So they waited, listening to all the sounds from upstairs, the heavy footed Mayton's never seemed to leave and then, just after eight, the twins heard the family leave with a loud slam of the front door.

Midonatio sprung to his feet, "come on." he whispered and grabbed the sun teen's hand, dragging him back up stairs.

All was quiet in the house, just the ticking of the replica grandfather clock, the twins dashed up another set of stairs and into the bathroom.

Naruto and Midonatio were only allowed to wash twice a week and then only for ten minuets each but they wanted to be at their best for the party.

"are we getting in together?" Naruto asked as he turned the shower on hot.

Midonatio was slightly shocked, they hadn't bathed together since they were eight, but they had very little time to get ready so the shadow teen nodded with a small smile.

Granted it was a bit strange to be sharing a shower with each other but Naruto broke the awkwardness by blowing bubbles in his little brother's face.

They finished showering quickly, dried off and blow-dried their hair for longer than necessary; happy they were clean and feeling slightly pampered from using some of Jona and Theo's creams, the twins quickly ran back downstairs.

The moment they reached the bottom of the 'bedroom' stairs Bud and Tulip came back through the front door. The grandfather clock chimed nine times on the hour.

Midonatio nodded at his big brother and they began to get dressed; Midonatio's silver shirt was a bit too tight around his wrists and chest but that he could ignore, flicking his pendent outside of his shirt for the first time since he had put it on he set it under the collar like a tie and he had managed to find dark blue dress trousers that somewhat fit him.

Naruto did a little spin in his orange shirt, black jeans with the orange and black belt holding them tight in place and he had laced some bright orange laces through his trainers. He had also done the same to Midonatio's but his were red.

"here." Naruto said and handed his brother something.

It was a small, crown shaped hair slide with little diamonds all round it; despite its beauty the shadow teen frowned, "where did you get these Naru?" he asked carefully.

The sun teen blushed but stood tall, "i borrowed them from Sakura." Naruto told him.

"so, you stole them." Midonatio enquired.

"no! Borrowed." the blond corrected loudly.

Midonatio laughed lightly and slid the small crown into his already slicked back hair, it sat just on the right of his head. Naruto slid it onto the left side but it got slightly lost in his fluffy spikes of hair.

Going back into his suitcase Midonatio took out the masks; a few days previous he had attached some ribbon on either side of the mask so they would be easier to wear.

Naruto smiled widely as he was passed his mask, the earrings glittered in the lamplight, "wow Mid." was all Naruto could see and he quickly put it on.

Parts of the mask hurt but it was something they could live with. For a moment they both just looked at each other, it had been so long since they had been happy to be wearing something that made them feel good and worthy.

"let's get walking." Midonatio suggested, standing on the desk and pushing the window further open.

"do you think it will take that long?" Naruto asked and stood on the creaking desk too.

Midonatio had stuffed the invites into his long coat, which he shoved out of the window first; the little window led into the back garden, at grass level, so as the twins slipped out they were careful not to get any dirt on their clothes.

The living room light was on as they snuck under the window and round the front; Midonatio planned a leisurly walk to the Uchiha Manor, a nice walk under the stars but he heard someone calling his and Naruto's name.

"Midonatio. Naruto." the person whispered from the end of their path, "over here."

cautiously the twins approched the voice and suddenly a car light sprang on; Rock Lee was waiting for the in a green tailcoat and waistcoat, plus a massive grin.

"we told you we didn't want a lift." Midonatio hissed and quickly started walking away, coat slung over his shoulder.

Naruto gave him an apologetic look before going after his brother, "wait!" Rock Lee shouted.

"don't shout." Naruto begged.

Rock Lee took a deep breath, smiling too, "Sasuke asked me to drive you two to the party." he announced.

A furious blush sprung up on Naruto's face, "Sasuke did?" he breathed hopefully.

The bushy browed boy nodded happily, "certainly did." he popped the back door to the car next them open, flushing the inside with light, "your carriage gentlemen."

"shut up." Midonatio joked.

Still feeling slightly uneasy the Namikazi twins got into the back of Rock Lee's car, only to see him get in the passenger seat in front.

A woman with black hair turned to them with a bright smile, "hello boys, ready for the party?" she asked kindly and the twins saw where Rock Lee got his monobrow.

"yes Mrs Lee." they said together and they set off.

Midonatio watched all the lights from other people's houses wiz by in a blur, it was very pretty.

"you know." Rock Lee suddenly said, "i almost didn't recognise you two, you look amazing." he told them with a big smile.

Midonatio blushed lightly, "thank you. You look very green." even when he said it he wasn't sure if he meant it as a compliment.

Rock Lee took it as one though, he laughed heartily and then turned in his seat, "we're here!" he cheered and was out of the car before it even stopped.

The Uchiha Manor was all lit up, a large banner saying 'Happy 16th Sasuke' hung above the door and a classic band could be heard from within.

Rock Lee opened the door on Naruto's side and waited for them climb out.

"here goes." Naruto breathed and stepped out into the fresh nights air.


	16. The Confession

The Confession:

despite the amount of people, the size of his cake and the number of presents Sasuke had received for his birthday he wasn't happy; the party had started nearly a hour and a half ago and there was no sign of Naruto.

Sakura and Ino had bugged him for nearly twenty minuets for a dance but he had refused indefinitely and just sat on the throne his mother had hired for the occasion.

"are you going to sit there and sulk your whole birthday little brother?" Itachi asked as he swanned up to Sasuke.

While Sasuke was dressed as a king; purple cape clasped with a gold chain across his chest and a crown perched far back on his head, Itachi had opted for being a prince in a red coat and only a gold band around his head.

"only till Naruto gets here." Sasuke mumbled, his eyes scanning the crowd again.

Sasuke had felt a little flutter of excitement when he saw the Mayton twins arrive but there was no Naruto with them, or even no Midonatio.

Sighing deeply Sasuke just wanted to vanish upstairs, "are you sure they're coming." Itachi asked carefully, a look of worry gracing his handsome features.

"yes." Sasuke answered immediately, "i got Rock Lee to ask them and drive them here." he informed his brother proudly.

Itachi smiled softly, "you should be glad of one friend then." he gently touch Sasuke's face but then the youngest Uchiha spotted a familiar bright green figure enter the house.

Rock Lee was always dressed in bright green, and after being blinded for a little bit everyone agreed it suited him but tagging behind him were two other people in masks.

Sasuke stood to get a better look and his heart jumped happily; it was obviously Naruto and Midonatio but they looked amazing.

Naruto's blond hair shone beautifully in the light, a small silver object sparkling from within his hair, dressed in a orange shirt that clung to his skinny body and a glittering orange mask around big blue eyes.

Itachi couldn't hold back the blush as he gazed upon the marvel that was Midonatio; his inky hair was slicked back with a small crown clipped onto the side, a silver shirt that looked almost like a second skin and his black mask setting off his gorgeous odd eyes.

The youngest Uchiha could have stared at the blond forever but he spotted his mother making her way over to them.

Sasuke had never moved so fast; within seconds, and not bumping into a single person, he was in front of the Uzamaki brothers and he couldn't help but smile.

"welcome." he greeted in a calm voice, his eyes never leaving Naruto.

"thank you for having us." Naruto said and blushed deeply.

The elder Uchiha brother had made his way across the room with less haste and more grace but Midonatio met him part of the way there; carefully they entwined hands, not caring if others saw.

"i missed you." Itachi confessed in a whisper.

The shadow teen smiled softly, "missed you too."

Itachi's heart felt light in his chest, his skin hot under the younger boy's touch; he had spent the whole week plagued by dream of the other boy but they had to remain dreams for a long time.

"come with me." Itachi said and began to lead Midonatio away from the room.

The shadow teen didn't protest.

Sasuke had already taken Naruto back across the room to his throne and had sat back down, ignoring the looks everyone was giving him, the youngest Uchiha just motioned for the band to play something else.

"how very arrogant of you Sasuke." Naruto suddenly said boldly, crossing his arm across his chest.

"pardon?" Sasuke asked shocked.

The blond boy just smiled; he walked over to where Sasuke was sitting and placed both hands on the arm of the throne, leaning forwards slightly, "sitting here on your throne all by yourself. Lording over your subjects." Naruto whispered teasingly.

To be fair Sasuke hadn't heard most of what Naruto had to say, he was distracted by the smell of lavender emitting from the younger boy, plus he was very close and all the memories of their kiss kept flashing before Sasuke's eyes.

"my birthday." the youngest Uchiha managed to get out.

With a small laugh Naruto moved so his elbows were resting on the armrest, his perfect face placed on his palms and his slender body bending seductively.

Sasuke blushed furiously, "are you trying to seduce me?" he asked through gritted teeth.

The sun teen dropped one arm, it brushed Sasuke's thigh, but he still smiled, "i might be." he whispered sending a shiver down the black haired boy's spine, then he added, "that's what sluts like me do right?"

Naruto stood fully and turned to leave but a still shocked Sasuke caught his wrist; he felt his insides quiver slightly, the blond's skin was soft in his hold, "i need to talk with you." Sasuke told him and began to walk to the large glass doors that led out into his mother's garden.

The thick scent of pollen hung heavily in the air as well as the faint sound of insects buzzing around and the doors, once closed, blocked out any sound from within the house.

"what did you want to talk about?" Naruto asked softly walking around one of the flower beds.

Sasuke stayed on the opposite side, "us." he answered bluntly.

Even in the semi-darkness Sasuke could see the blue in Naruto's eyes; there was a small, humourless laugh, "there is no us, Sasuke. You made that clear." despite the words coming from the blond there was no malice or bitterness behind them.

"i want to make amends." Sasuke tried.

"like you wanted to make friends." Naruto snapped back and sniffed a Dragon Snap flower.

Sasuke had to take a very deep breath, he knew he had hurt Naruto and now he had to fix everything if he wanted to be together, "i'm sorry I hurt you. I didn't mean it." Sasuke said meaningly and walked up to the sun teen.

Naruto was stood by a white rose bush, blushing prettily, "then why say it?" he asked softly.

"i thought it would be safer if you hated me." Sasuke confessed.

The sun teen turned surprised blue eyes on him but they soften quickly, "i could never hate you Sasuke." he whispered and took Sasuke hand in his own.

"i want to protect you." the youngest Uchiha told him strongly, tightening his grip on the smaller hand, "i want to be there for you. I want you. I love you Naruto."

all was quiet for a moment, just the hum of bugs, and when Sasuke dared to peek at the sun teen he almost jumped back.

Naruto had removed the mask, tiny bits of orange clung to the side of his face, and fat, crystal clear tears were rolling down his whiskered cheeks.

"don't cry." Sasuke pleaded, "why does he always cry around me?" he fumed in his head.

Taking a quick step forwards the youngest Uchiha gently brushed away the fallen tears, his heart dropping slightly at the sun teen's reaction, "i didn't mean for you to cry." he said quickly, wiping more tears away.

Naruto suddenly batted away Sasuke's hand but pulled him closer, "i'm crying because I'm happy you idiot!" the blond told him with a watery laugh, "so happy."

feeling his own happiness swell the black haired boy brought his hand up again but this time be played with the small crown nestled in the blond locks, it was very girly but cute on Naruto.

"i love you too, so very much, for so very long." Naruto whispered against Sasuke's neck.

Sasuke smiled, "i'm glad."

the pair stood there for a long time, enjoying the feel of each other, surrounded by the thick smell of flowers.

The glass door opened noisily, letting more noise and light spill into the garden, "Sasuke!" Kiba called into the dark garden, "are you done beating that dork up yet?"

Sasuke felt Naruto flinch slightly in his grip but he didn't answer the boy, "come on Uchiha! Get back to your own party." Kiba let out a bark of laughter before walking off again, leaving the door open.

Anger flared through all of Sasuke, he exhaled shakily before taking a firm hold of Naruto's smaller hand and leading them back into hot, busy room.

The whole room fell silent as Sasuke and Naruto made their way through it, back to the throne; Sasuke was on a mission and nothing would stand in his way.

Standing firmly on the soft velvet cushion the youngest Uchiha turned to his guest, Naruto standing awkwardly beside him on the floor, he took a breath and spoke loudly.

"i have something very important to say." Sasuke told them, he noticed his mother and father at the back of the room looking confused, "i'm in love with someone."

there were squeals from many of the girls in the room, "quiet!" Sasuke shouted and the room fell into silence again, "i love a boy." he took a pause, seeing his father look away disappointed, "i love him, Uzamaki Naruto." the youngest Uchiha placed a gentle hand on Naruto's head.

The guests burst into talk, much were swear words towards the poor blond so Sasuke jumped off the throne and stood in front of Naruto, "if you don't like it then sod off and never speak to me again. I'm not going to lie anymore, I hate most of you anyway."

his whole being felt light after his confession and felt giddy as he watched more than ninety percent file out if the room, back into the dark night, the only ones left was Rock Lee, Hinata, surprising Neji and his parents.

"How passionate of youthful love." Rock Lee announced, followed by a little applause from Hinata.

Sasuke smiled a real smile, "thanks Rock Lee." he said genuinely.

"Sasuke." his father's voice was very serious but the youngest Uchiha stood strong.

Fugaka, his father, looked tired from the long hours at work but didn't look angry, "think about this son." he said slowly.

"i have father." Sasuke took a deep breath through his nose and squeezed Naruto's hand behind his back, "all week I have. I love him."

for a long time they stared at each other, the old generation and the new, finally Fugaka rolled his eyes, "fine. I say to you what I said to your brother; as long as I don't see it I don't care." and with that he turned on his heel and walked away, giving his wife a peck on the cheek before vanishing into his study.

Sasuke almost felt like he was going to faint and it only got worse when his mother came up to him with tears in her eyes, "this means I won't have any grandchildren." she said weepily.

"no, mother, no grandchildren." Sasuke repeated and shook his head.

Minako gave Naruto a strange look, then a smile and left the same way as her husband.

Sasuke let out a big breath he didn't know he was holding, "that was maddening." he said as he turned to face Naruto.

"proud of you." Naruto stated and kissed Sasuke lightly on the cheek.

They both blushed deeply and were only broken from their moment when someone cleared their throat behind him.

Neji stood in his long coat with a blank expression and Hinata behind him, "why didn't you leave?" Sasuke asked sternly.

"because I didn't want to." Neji answered simply.

"why?" Naruto asked this time and came to stand beside Sasuke.

Neji looked at the blond for a while, finally he swept his hair out of his face, "i admire you Uchiha. Coming out like this." he said and actually looked impressed.

"Neji?" Hinata whispered over her cousin's shoulder.

The Hyua took a deep breath, "you know Gaara." he asked and everyone nodded, "i love him and what kind of person would I be if I hated the people I am?"

Sasuke laughed a little but understood, they would support each other; he shook Neji's hand, "Gaara, really?" he asked teasingly, "the insomniac red-head two years above us?"

Neji coloured lightly, "shut it you." he snapped without venom and turned to leave, Hinata on his arm, "goodbye!" he called over his shoulder and he too vanished into the darkness.

"you can go too if you want Rock Lee." Sasuke offered, feeling slightly bad for leaving him alone.

With hesitation Rock Lee left with a cheery goodbye.

Finally they were alone; Sasuke sat on the throne and within a second Naruto was sat on his lap, his warmth was irritable.

Gently Sasuke pulled the sun teen towards him and captured the soft, waiting lips in his; it felt a million times better than when they had kissed in the classroom. The Uchiha had one hand planted firmly on the back of Naruto's neck and his other began to wonder.

Trying to get into the blond's shirt was proving difficult, Sasuke pulled away to see what he was doing, Naruto watched too with a look of amusement, "how the hell did you get in this shirt?" he asked in mock anger and attacked the bottom button.

Naruto placed his tanned hands over Sasuke's pale ones, he had a very serious face, "can we, not rush into sex?" the blond asked in a small voice.

A tiny bit of disappointment crept up the youngest Uchiha but he had worked hard and risked everything for the blond, he wasn't about to ruin it over something as silly as sex.

Sasuke pecked the sun teen lightly on the lips, "of course not, I'll wait for as long as you want." he promised.

Naruto flushed brightly and smiled, he nuzzled into Sasuke's neck, "i love you." the blond whispered.

The youngest Uchiha had that light, tingly feeling again but then he frowned at himself, "i was wondering." he began slowly and Naruto looked at him curiously, "when are you sixteen?"

he didn't want to make it sound like he was being inpatient but the black haired boy had to know when Naruto's birthday was sooner or later.

"October tenth." Naruto told him softly, "under three months."

Naruto lent in for another kiss and Sasuke willingly accepted it; he felt the heat climbing up his chest and finally managed to get his hand into the sun teen's shirt so he was touching the soft skin on his tummy.

The forgotten band began to play a soft, slow song that filled the whole room but didn't interrupt the young lovers.


	17. Resist And Save

Resist And Save:

everything inside Midonatio was quivering with nervousness and excitement as he followed Itachi up the long staircase and towards one of the rooms.

Their hands were still entwined tightly but the older boy hadn't said anything the whole trip, finally they entered a room at the end of the corridor; inside was either white or red, a simple room with a bed, desk with computer and chair. There was a beautiful view of the garden from the window too.

Itachi led them to the bed and they sat down together, the silence was beginning to get a bit awkward, "i'm very glad you came." Itachi finally broke the tension.

Midonatio smiled and took off the itchy mask, "had nothing else on so, you know." he joked and the older boy laughed lightly.

The shadow teen gazed at Itachi; the band around his head wasn't tight enough to make an indent in his hair but it wasn't slipping and his dark eyes kept darting to look at him.

Standing silently the shadow teen stood in front of Itachi, who barely had to look up to make eye contact; grabbing both of the older boy's hand he placed them on either side of his thin hips.

"i won't break." Midonatio reassured him.

For a moment Itachi looked shocked and then sadness clouded his dark eyes, "i have to resist you Mid." he said sternly.

"no you don't!" Midonatio snapped tightening his grip on Itachi's hands.

Itachi nodded slowly, "till you turn sixteen I won't be able to touch you."

the shadow teen flushed angrily; he finally had someone, other than his brother, who cared about him and now some stupid law was keeping them from being together properly.

"i don't care about that law." Midonatio huffed.

Itachi laughed under his breath, "i know, but my whole family are with the police." he reminded the younger boy gently.

Midonatio felt his heart dropping by the second, "so, you won't even kiss me?" he asked in a small voice, almost afraid of the answer.

When Itachi didn't answer the shadow teen felt like crying but he held it back, he wasn't going to ruin his chance of happiness; quickly he lent forward and captured Itachi's lips in his own.

The smell of the older boy's aftershave filled Midonatio's senses, his odd eyes fluttered shut and got a shock when Itachi wrapped his arms fully around his waist and pulled him closer to the other body.

They pulled apart with a small pop, they rested their foreheads together, enjoying the aftermath of the first kiss.

"i think I love you Itachi." Midonatio blurted out.

He felt the older boy's eye look at him intently but he couldn't meet them; a small laugh escaped Itachi's lips, "i think I love you too."

Midonatio's heart jumped happily and he clung to Itachi tighter; they smiled warmly at each other.

Suddenly the shadow teen had an idea to make sure Itachi didn't give in to his urges till he was old enough. The older boy looked at him confused as he began to move away.

"this will help you resist." Midonatio told him as he stood a fair bit away.

Without another word the shadow teen began unbuttoning his shirt; he hated his damaged body, nothing but vile memories of beatings and abuse, a disgusting display of the human form and to top it all he was unhealthy thin.

The silver shirt fell to the floor and Midonatio stood perfectly still letting Itachi get a proper look of his ugly bruised stomach, scars on his chest that hadn't healed, nasty looking marks all over his arms and long since healed white scars.

Itachi had a hand clasped over his mouth, "disgusting right?" Midonatio asked gently and turned to show the older boy his destroyed back, "does it help?"

he had never shown anyone his body before but Itachi's reaction was basically what he had been expecting; sickened shock.

"oh Midonatio." Itachi whispered from behind his hand, he stood and walked slowly towards the shadow teen, his eyes never leaving his marred body.

"i guess even when I turn sixteen you won't want to tou..." Midonatio trailed off as Itachi gently touch a white scar on his collar bone.

The shadow teen fought the flinch that rose up his body and he remained still while Itachi continued to touch his vile body.

Itachi's wonderful touch trailed up his neck and found a small scar on his jaw, he rubbed it gently; Midonatio looked up at him through his bangs and smiled sadly.

"Itachi?" Midonatio questioned when he saw a strange little look in the older boy's eyes.

Without a second thought Itachi pulled the thinner body to his and pulled the shadow teen into a heated kiss; their tongues met passionately, breathing ragged and loving the taste of each other.

Finally the parted, panting for breath but wanting more, Itachi was still holding Midonatio tightly, "how do you think this would help?" he asked breathlessly.

Slightly shocked Midonatio looked deep into his soulful eyes, "i figured that every time you had an urge all you had to do was remember my body and you should be fine." the shadow teen explained simply.

"but, you're beautiful." Itachi told him and the shadow teen was sure that if he wasn't already very red then he would have been now.

"don't lie. It's not nice, my body is horrible." Midonatio corrected.

Itachi shook his head, "beautiful. If I remember this body then I won't last two minuets." he told him.

The shadow teen gripped Itachi's shirt tighter, hardly believing what he was being told; nearly his whole life he had hated his form, the only part he liked were his eyes and now he was being told that he was beautiful.

"i thought it would help." Midonatio mumbled.

Itachi laughed, "i think you made it worse." he joked but the shadow teen felt something twist in his stomach.

"sorry." the younger boy said meaningfully.

Itachi placed a cherish kiss on his forehead, "don't be." he told him seriously, "but I do have something very important to ask you."

Midonatio watched curiously as the older boy walked away to turn his computer on, the young officer clicked on one certain thing and the picture of Bud took up the whole screen.

"this is Bud Mayton right? Your and Naruto's guardian." Itachi asked gently.

Not being able to talk the shadow teen just nodded but that caused Itachi to frown, "what right does he have to you two?"

it seemed like such a strange question and Midonatio barley knew the answer, "he worked for our father and I think he was my mother's, my real mother, friend." he told the older boy quickly.

Itachi's frown deepened, "so, not blood related in any way?"

"why are you asking me this?" Midonatio asked and came to stand behind Itachi.

The young officer clicked on something else, bringing up a whole file of writing, "Itachi." Midonatio snapped.

"i can't see any reason for him to have a legal right to you." Itachi mumbled to himself, "why does he have you?"

"Itachi." the shadow teen snapped again, spinning the computer chair around so they were facing each other, "what has this got to do with anything?" he felt tears stinging the back of his eyes but he held them back, "we'll be out of there in three years. Now stop this." he pleaded.

Itachi gave him a pinned look, all too serious and old for his handsome face, "one more question; does he hit you?"

Midonatio was slightly taken aback and the shock must have shown on his face because the older boy stood quickly, "does he?" he asked again in a darker tone.

The shadow teen couldn't look away from Itachi's endless dark eyes, like they were looking into his mind, seeing his memories and that he couldn't hide anything. Giving in Midonatio finally took a deep breath, "they both do." he said quietly, "to teach us a lesson."

the colour in the older teen's face rose several levels, "i'll teach him a bloody lesson." he snarled and went for the door.

"stop!" Midonatio grabbed his red coat, holding on tightly, "don't do anything stupid on my account." he pleaded desperately.

Something angry flashed in Itachi's eyes and a small growl escaped his throat, "he hurt you." he snarled.

"it doesn't matter, I don't care." the shadow teen tightened his grip on Itachi's coat.

After a moment of tense, uncomfortable air Itachi pulled Midonatio into an almost crushing hug; his hands pressed against the pale, damaged skin and refused to ease up.

"he's got no right to you." Itachi whispered angrily in the younger boy's ear.

Midonatio felt his heart swell slightly at the caring thought behind the anger, "we'll be out of there soon." he promised softly.

"not soon enough." Itachi whispered and then a strange twitch shot through the older teen's body, shocking Midonatio slightly.

The older boy pulled back with a very excited look on his face, "come live here!" he exclaimed.

"what?" Midonatio breathed, all the awkward, angry tension suddenly gone when Itachi smiled.

"yeah, that Mayton guy has no legal right to you two, other than he worked for your father. Come live here with me, my father is respected, the judge will take his side over anyone's. Plus it helps that he's a cousin." Itachi explained breathlessly, obviously over joyed with his realisation.

Midonatio thought it over; everything the young officer said was true, Bud had been the only person 'willing' to take the twins in all those years ago.

A small, relived laugh escaped Midonatio's lips, "okay." he whispered, "okay." the shadow teen repeated louder, "but I have to get some of my things." he added quickly.

Itachi embraced him tightly, his laugh reverberating in his chest and for the first time in a very long time the younger boy felt safe.

As quickly as he could Midonatio pulled his silver shirt back on and flew down the stairs with Itachi; finally he and Naruto were going to be safe and happy.

The whole driveway was empty except Itachi's red sports car and a black jeep; the pair jumped into the sports car, Itachi starting the engine before Midonatio had even closed the door.

The drive back to the Mayton's went very quickly, the shadow teen knew exactly what he needed to get from his old 'room', exactly the same as what he had entered the house with.

Itachi parked behind a bush, so the Mayton's couldn't see, and with a small kiss they both got out of the car; sneaking behind the house, careful of the living room window, Midonatio opened the little window again.

"you live in the cellar?" Itachi whispered.

"not now." Midonatio whispered back as he slid through feet first.

Midonatio landed silently on the desk, the whole room was in darkness but just as the shadow teen carefully stepped off the desk someone switched the light on.

A sickening heavy dread set immediately in Midonatio's stomach; Bud was standing in the middle of the room, which had been turned upside down and everything within it had been ripped apart.

"welcome home." Bud growled, his wrinkled face twisted angrily.

Midonatio gasped and tried to jump back onto the desk to get back out but Bud lunged forwards, grabbing the collar of the shadow teen's shirt and yanked him back violently, his pendent digging painfully into his neck.

"Itachi!" Midonatio shouted loudly, "help!"

Bud slammed his hand over the younger boy's mouth and began dragging him out of the cellar; Midonatio noticed Itachi bend to look through the window and then disappear at a run.

The light upstairs was unusually bright but Midonatio hadn't stopped struggling against his 'guardian', the older man dragged him into the dining room, where the rest of the family were waiting for them.

The only fireplace in the whole house was blazing brightly and the dining room table had been push against the far wall; Bud threw Midonatio into Theo and Jona, who grabbed his arms tightly and refused to loosen up.

"so, you went to the party." Bud said in a sickly voice.

There was a sudden banging from the front door, the shadow teen felt happy that Itachi was trying to save him, but Tulip just closed the dining room door.

"i told you not to go." Bud reminded him and came closer to the shadow teen's face.

"What difference does it make?" Midonatio finally said trying not to let the fear show in his voice.

The twins tightened their grip on Midonatio's arms, the older man smiled nastily and held up something; it took a little while for the shadow teen to see it properly in the firelight but when he did his whole body went ice cold.

It was his bloodstained fairytale book.

"we found some very interesting things in your room." Tulip swiped, she was holding both of their precious plushies.

"get off them." Midonatio growled lowly.

The banging on the front door had increased, each bang was followed by a shout of Midonatio's name.

Bud sighed dramatically, "i can see that all those beatings I gave you haven't seemed to teach you a lesson." he said still in the sickly voice, "so I think drastic action is required."

Midonatio watched with baited breath as Bud turned towards the fireplace and the tragic scream burst from the shadow teen before he could stop it when he realised what the older man had planned.

The front door gave a final bang before crashing open but it was all background noise, even Tulip's screaming and the twins laughing became indecifibale noise to the younger Namikazi as he saw Bud prepare to throw the book into the fire.

With a manic smile Bud let go of the fairytale book and it fell into the roaring fire with a hard thud; all at once the dining room door burst open to revel Itachi holding a gun and his police badge, while Midonatio managed to rip away from Theo and Jona, his mind only on saving his book.

Despite the uncomfortable heat coming from the fire Midonatio didn't even think twice about plunging his hands into the fire to grab the book; the one thing that had been with him everyday since the day his parents had been murdered.

"Mid!" Itachi grabbed him firmly, the gun lay unfired on the floor, and pulled him back, away from the searing fire.

Parts of the fairytale book had caught on fire, so had the shadow teen's cuffs, not to mention the angry red burns appearing on his thin hands.

"Mid stop it." Itachi pleaded when he saw the younger boy only concentrating on the slightly burning fairytale book in his hands.

Still ignoring the hot pain on his hands the shadow teen clutched the singed and bloodstained fairytale book to his chest, relieved he had saved it and then all the sounds came back to him.

Bud and Tulip were shouting, while the twins seemed to be crying hysterically and Itachi was whispering comforting words in his ear.

"how dare you break into my home." Bud shouted at Itachi.

Midonatio looked up in a slight daze, only the young officer was clear in his vision; he looked ruffled and furious, "you had better keep your mouth shut." Itachi snapped, "i'll have you done for child abuse."

the Mayton's fell silent when Itachi said that, "come on." the young officer whispered to Midonatio and pulled him to his feet, beginning to steer him from the room and picked his gun up on the way.

"no." Midonatio mumbled and turned to collect the rest of his and Naruto's prized items from the floor, fortunately all their things could fit in his arms, even though his hands still burned painfully and he was starting to feel it.

Midonatio practically fell into Itachi's arms, his mahogany box digging into his ribs, and was bundled out of the hell house for the final time.

"we're going to the hospital." Itachi told him firmly as he climbed into the car, the cold somehow making his burns hurt more.

Numbly the shadow teen nodded but he heard Itachi shout back to the shocked Mayton's, "we'll see you in court!"

and, even though Midonatio's hands hurt like hell and his book had been singed, the shadow child felt happy that he would finally be free from the Mayton's and that hell-hole he had been forced to call home.


	18. The Box Of Secrets

The Box Of Secrets:

it was well past midnight when Itachi finally came back to the house from the hospital, he gave a deep sigh then turned to the younger boy asleep in the passenger seat; the doctors had easily seen to Midonatio's burns, just some cream and bandages.

Midonatio woke with an uneasy start when he felt a hand on his arm and it took him several moments to figure out where he was; the panic vanished when he saw Itachi looking at him kindly.

"we're home." Itachi whispered gently with a smile.

Midonatio smiled too but didn't reply; the shadow teen feared his voice would not work if he tried.

As the pair approched the front door it was flung open by a very worried looking Sasuke, "where the hell have you two been?" he yelled, "mother has been going mad... wait what happened?" the youngest Uchiha noticed Midonatio's bandaged hands.

Inside the house was warm, Naruto sat at the base of the stairs nearly close to tears, "Mid!" Naruto cried at the sight of his brother.

The Namikazi twins embraced tightly, Itachi was holding all their belongings, they both had to fight not to cry and pulled back with identical smiles.

"we are going to live here Naru." Midonatio told his older brother.

Naruto looked surprised, "here?" he whispered.

"yep, no more living in that hell hole." Itachi joined in with a large smile.

The blond watched confused as the elder Uchiha brother placed the few belongings on one of the many tables in the hallway.

"Itachi!" all four of them jumped at the voice; Minako stood in the doorway with tears pouring down her face; in a few short steps she had pulled her oldest son into a crushing hug, "where were you?" she asked through her tears.

"just sorting some things out mother." Itachi told her in a strained voice, pulling away slightly, "i need to talk to you and father." he said seriously.

Itachi and Minako went back into the study where his father was still working and the door closed with a small click, leaving the younger boys alone.

"what happened?" Sasuke asked carefully.

Midonatio sighed softly, gestured for the other two to sit with him on the stairs, "we've got some things to sort out too." he told them gently.

He felt a small quiver of nervousness in his chest, with a small nod to himself Midonatio grabbed the box Kushina, for some reason the contents of the box remained untouched and the shadow teen was glad for it.

"i am sorry Naru, I have been lying to you." Midonatio said softly.

Shock was written all over Naruto's face, the colour drained from it quickly and small tears instantly appeared in the corners of his big eyes, "lying to me." the sun teen repeated quietly.

Midonatio smiled softly, despite his big brother's obvious distress, the box a great weight upon his burnt hands, "yes, and I am very sorry for it." he kept his voice even and calm as he took a seat on the staircase between Sasuke and Naruto.

"but, but we're twins." Naruto gasped, a single tear rolling down his cheek.

The shadow teen felt Sasuke flinch beside him at the sight of the tear but he brushed it away quickly, "we are brothers Naruto, but not twins." he said.

"no!" Naruto protested loudly, "we are twins, born on the same day to the same woman!" more tears fell.

"but we don't have the same mother." Midonatio was finding it hard to remain calm and was almost thankful when Sasuke moved to comfort the blond.

The sun teen stared intently at Midonatio, as if looking for a lie within his odd eyes but saw none, "yes we do." he tried weakly.

Midonatio shook his head silently, a calming smile in place; opening the box he felt both sets of eyes on him, he took the photo album out and opened it to the photo of Eclipse behind her desk when she was mayor.

"this is my birth mother." Midonatio told his brother kindly.

For several moments Naruto just stared at the photo, the tears had stopped, just replaced with shock with his mouth opening and closing silently.

"you need to explain more." Sasuke said through the silence.

The shadow teen sighed, flipping to a picture of all three of his parents in, "they were best friends at school." Midonatio began carefully, "my mother, Eclipse," he pointed at his black haired, green eyed mother who was smiling from a swimming pool, "was a mayor from another town and when they finished school she had to go back."

Naruto's face was still in shock but Sasuke had raised an eyebrow, "then how did she get pregnant."

"well, since dad loved mum very much I doubt he would have slept with my mother so I guess it was artificial incrimination." the shadow teen felt slightly strange talking about his parents in such a way but he had done his research.

Midonatio waited for his big brother to say something but he was still staring at the photo of Eclipse; taking a deep breath the shadow teen said, "she died the day after I was born."

blue eyes suddenly looked up, "how long have you known about this?" Naruto's voice croaked slightly.

"since we were five." Midonatio finally admitted, "mum had written me a letter and given me this." the gems embedded in the pendent shone brightly in the lights.

A strange noise emitted from the blond's throat, "why didn't you tell me? Didn't you trust me? Do you really hate me?" he cried hysterically.

"Naruto." Sasuke said softly, placing a kind hand on the blond's shoulder but it was shaken off violently.

Midonatio slammed the photo album shut, "of course I don't hate you." he growled, "how could you think that? I kept this from you because I knew you would react like this and at the time we needed each other. We needed to be the closest we could and nothing is closer than twins." the shadow teen was breathless when he had finished talking.

The Namikazi brothers stared dead at each other for a long while, looking angry with each other but actually being angry at themselves and neither could break eye contact.

Midonatio noticed small tears gathering in the corners of his brother's eyes and he fought not to wipe them away; they had to sort this out, everything they had avoided for years.

Without warning Naruto made a strange strangulated noise and threw himself at his brother, nearly knocking the shadow teen off his feet but he caught himself; as he listened to his big brother cry on his shoulder Midonatio felt a weight lift from his chest.

Gently he patted Naruto's blond head, "calm down Naru." Midonatio whispered.

"b-bu-but you, you, you..." Naruto gasped between sobs.

Midonatio peeled his brother off him with a small smile, resting their foreheads together, uncomfortable in the heat between them, "sorry I kept it from you, but now we can move on." he said hopefully.

Still unable to speak Naruto just nodded quickly and hugged Midonatio close.

The door that Itachi and his parents had disappeared behind opened and they all came out; the Uchiha mother had tear tracks down her face while the father looked ashen.

Midonatio felt Sasuke pull his blond brother away, hugging him close but the shadow teen didn't feel abandoned, he felt happy for his brother and all three teens faced the elder Uchihas'.

"so." Mr Uchiha started, his voice very much the Police Sargent he was, "Itachi told us what happened."

Midonatio fought to miss the look Naruto shot him, keeping his eyes trained on Itachi.

"you do realise you need to make statements." Mr Uchiha told them seriously.

"about what?" Naruto asked, hiccuping slightly.

"about Bud." the shadow teen said quickly.

The sun teen frowned, a single twinge of fear sparking inside him, but before he could speak the Uchiha mother cut across all thoughts.

"we'll worry about that in the morning!" she said a bit too loudly, "first things first, food." and she whisked them all into the deserted dining room.

The tables full of food still sat mainly untouched, the ice cream had melted, any hot food had long since turned cold and the fizzy pop had turned flat but the Uchiha mother still managed to make a meal fit enough for a whole family.

After ten years of table scraps the Namikazi brothers mouths watered at the mere sight of the food presented before them.

Even though it was cold the food was delicious, all of them eating till they couldn't anymore, feeling better than they had in years.

The Uchiha father kept his eyes on Naruto and Midonatio but kept his police work to himself.

Meanwhile, the Uchiha mother insisted they called her Miniko, fussed around them making sure they had enough to eat and were comfortable.

"Mid." Naruto suddenly said into the full air, his brother lazily acknowledged him, "what happened to your hands?"

glancing down at his bandaged hands the shadow teen had half forgotten about the server burns, the painkillers were still doing their job; Midonatio shrugged, "Bud threw my book in the fire." he said airily, hoping his brother would drop it.

Naruto frowned, "your book?" he questioned.

"my fairytale book." Midonatio reminded him, knowing Naruto would have seen it under his pillow the past ten years.

"and, you grabbed it back out?" the sun teen sounded shocked.

Midonatio nodded, picking at the gauze slightly, "my book." he mumbled.

Naruto lent forwards in his chair a bit, staring at his brother, "just a book." he said softly; he knew Midonatio loved his books and he had seen that one constantly under his younger brother's pillow but he just guessed it was to give him extra comfort.

Slight colour rose in the shadow teen's face, "not just a book." Midonatio snapped, a contrast to his soft spoken brother, "my book, mum's book."

"what's done is done." Itachi cut in quickly, a hand on his young loves arm.

The Uchiha father stood with a deep sigh, rubbing his tired eyes, "indeed, and as your mother said we'll deal with it all in the morning, for now I think sleep is the best thing." he told them in a tone that left no room for discussion.

Very slowly, the air rested, everyone rose to their feet; the Namikazi twins followed behind the Uchiha brothers at a slow, plodding pace.

"goodnight Sasuke, Naruto." Itachi said softly as they came to his bedroom door.

Looking shocked Naruto's drooping head shot up, "we're sleeping in sepearte rooms?" he inquired, eyes darting from Sasuke to Midonatio, who seemed to be sleeping where he stood.

Sasuke placed a loving hand on the base of the sun teen's back, he gripped the other tightly, "you'll be sleeping in my room." Sasuke reassured the blond.

"and Midonatio will be with me." Itachi added.

Still slightly uneasy Naruto nodded, "night nii-san." he whispered.

The youngest Uchiha led him gently further down the hall and the pair disappeared into his darkened bedroom.


End file.
